Quarterly Geoscience Newsletter & E-Zine

The American Geosciences Institute

WINTER 2014

Geospectrum Quarterly Geoscience Newsletter & E-Zine

Soil Econ 101| Dawn of the Deed | Next Generation Coal Uses? Best Geologic Map Competition | Geoscience Enrollment and Degrees SPECIAL INSERT: EARTH Magazine Interviews Secretary Jewell

AGI

american geosciences institute

AGI


In This Issue Winter 2014 News

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Workforce 39 Education 48 Special Insert 61 Policy 64 Awards 68 Meetings 80

O n the Cover Geospectrum

The Economics of Soil

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4220 King Street Alexandria, VA 22302-1502, USA

Book Review: Dawn of the Deed 16

Phone: 703-379-2480 www.agiweb.org/geospectrum [email protected]

Publisher

Next Generation Coal Uses? 10 & 34 Geoscience Enrollment and Degrees 42

P. Patrick Leahy

Best Student Geologic Map Competition 48 Editor Maureen N. Moses

SPECIAL INSERT: EARTH Magazine Jewell Interview 60

Contributing Editor Christpher M. Keane

Cover Photo: Copyright Larry Fellows; Image source: Earth Science World Image Bank http://www.earthscienceworld.org/images

Member Societies & Council Representatives

AGI


AGI Executive Committee Dr. Berry H. (Nick) Tew Jr., President Geological Survey of Alabama

Dr. Eric M. Riggs, President Elect Texas A&M University

Mr. Richard J. Lambert, Treasurer Roscoe Postle Associates, Inc.

Ms. Dorian E. Kuper, Secretary Kuper Consulting

Dr. Sharon Mosher, Past President Jackson School of Geosciences

Ms. Katharine Lee Avary, Member at Large Dr. John G. Parrish, Member at Large California Geological Survey

Dr. Jacqueline E. Huntoon, Member at Large Michigan Technological University

Mr. Richard M. Powers, AGI Foundation Chair Consultant/AMEC-BCI -- retired

P. Patrick Leahy, Executive Director The American Geosciences Institute

American Association of Geographers - Dr. Douglas Richardson American Association of Petroleum Geologists - Ms. Laura C. Zahm American Association of State Geologists - Mr. Laurence R. Becker The Palynological Society - Dr. Fredrick J. Rich Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists - Ms. Becky Roland Association of Earth Science Editors - Mr. John R. Keith American Geophysical Union - Dr. Melanie Harrison American Institute of Hydrology - Dr. Neven Kresic American Institute of Professional Geologists - Mr. William J. Siok American Rock Mechanics Association - Mr. Peter H. Smeallie National Association of State Boards of Geologists - Ms. Sam Christiano Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography - Dr. Adrienne Froelich Sponberg Association for Women Geoscientists - Ms. Sara Welna Clay Minerals Society - Ms. Debora Berti Council on Undergraduate Research - Dr. Patricia L. Manley Environmental & Engineering Geophysical Society - Ms. Catherine Skokan Friends of Mineralogy - Dr. Nelson R. Shaffer Geo-Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers - Dr. Roman D. Hryciw Geochemical Society - Dr. Richard W. Carlson Geological Society of America - Dr. Suzanne Kay Geological Association of Canada - Richard Wardle Geoscience Information Society - Ms. Suzanne T. Larsen Geological Society of London - Mr. Edmund Nickless History of Earth Sciences Society - Dr. Warren A. Dym International Association of Hydrogeologists/U.S. National Chapter - Dr. Leonard F. Konikow Interational Medical Geology Association - Dr. Robert B. Finkelman Karst Waters Institute - Mr. Harvey R. DuChene Mineralogical Society of America - Dr. J. Alexander Speer National Association of Black Geologists & Geophysicists - Mr. Michael J. Carroll North American Commission of Stratigraphic Nomenclature - Dr. Norman P. Lasca Jr. National Association of Geoscience Teachers - Dr. Susan M. Buhr National Cave and Karst Research Institute - Dr. George Veni National Earth Science Teachers Association - Dr. Roberta Johnson Killeen National Speleological Society -Mr. David Decker Petroleum History Institute - Dr. William R. Brice Paleontological Research Institute - Ms. Elizabeth Brando Paleontological Society - Ms. Sandra Carlson Paleobotanical Section of the Botanical Society of America - Dr. Robert A. Gastaldo Society of Economic Geologists -Dr. Brian G. Hoal Society for Sedimentary Geology - Dr. Howard E. Harper Jr. Society of Exploration Geophysicists - Dr. Louise Pellerin Society of Independent Professional Earth Scientists - Mr. Al Taylor Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc. - Dr. Jonathan G. Price Society of Mineral Museum Professionals - Dr. Virgil W. Lueth Seismological Society of America - Ms. Susan Newman Soil Science Society of America - Dr. Jan Hopmans Society of Vertebrate Paleontology - Mr. Ted J. Vlamis The Society for Organic Petrology - Dr. Prasanta K. Mukhopadhyay United States Permafrost Association - Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette

International Associates Thanks to the sponsors of this issue of GeoSpectrum: CSPG, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Green Festivals and EnviroTech

Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences Geological Society of Africa The Young Earth Scientists Network (YES Network)

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NEWS Reprinted with Permission from Wayne Barker WYSO

NAGT: InTeGrate Module Author in the News “Wittenberg Students Team Up With Springfield To Fight Storm Water Problem” By Wayne Baker

Wittenberg professor Sarah Fortner and Springfield Stormwater Coordinator Sky Schelle, are working with students to develop rain gardens in the city and on campus. Credit Zeb Reichert / WYSO

Wittenberg geology students and the city of Springfield have paired up to reduce pollution in area rivers and streams. The partnership is expected to save the city money and serve as a learning experience for students. Buck Creek cuts through the middle of Springfield. Trees line the banks and in the warmer months, kayaking and other activities are common recreation. But there’s a problem. During heavy rains, the sewage system gets overwhelmed. “So we get overflows of that untreated sewage into Buck Creek and as you can imagine that is a water quality nightmare,” says Sky Schelle. Schelle is the storm water coordinator for Springfield. He says that’s why the city has partnered with Wittenberg to create rain gardens made up of plants with deep roots that soak up water, which will help get rid of pollutants. The city is hoping it can turn vacant lots into these rain gardens. “So there’s, right now there’s hundreds and hundreds of vacant lots in Springfield and these need to be Geospectrum WINTER 2014

re-purposed somehow. And what we’re proposing to do is re-purpose this to collect and store storm water,” Schelle says. The rain garden project could save Springfield millions of dollars in waste management costs. Wittenberg Geology professor Sarah Fortner says her students are gaining hands-on experience, and that the work could have an impact beyond Clark County. “This is part of a larger problem that’s going on nationally too,” Fortner says. “And so exploring this sort of community scale project is really a good way to solve the problem locally, but then also think about how you can expand that into other communities.” Fortner is seeking funding to continue and expand their environmental work. Meanwhile, Springfield will have a consultant look at improving its current sewage system. Link to the story and interview: http://bit.ly/1cWbWwq

Journal of Geoscience Education: NAGT announces the February 2014 issue The Journal of Geoscience Education (JGE) is the premier peer-reviewed publication for geoscience education research and curriculum and instruction at the undergraduate and pre-college levels. JGE is the publication of record for NAGT, and serves as the only international forum for the publication of research concerning the pedagogy, assessment, and philosophy of teaching and learning about the geosciences. JGE is published four times per year in February, May, August and November. Each issue contains Editorials, Commentaries, Papers on Curriculum & Instruction, and Papers on Research. The Journal accepts submissions through an online submission system: http://jge.allentrack.net

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NEWS

The Arctic Ocean is capped by a dynamic layer of sea ice that grows each winter and shrinks each summer, reaching its yearly minimum extent each fall. NASA’s Aqua satellite used microwaves to capture this snapshot of Arctic sea ice on September 3, 2010. The yearly minimum had not yet been reached, but past history says the low point should occur sometime in midSeptember. Perhaps what is most striking in this picture is the extent of the Greenland icecap—almost the whole island is overlain by a huge and deep (almost three miles deep in places) sheet of ice. The Greenland icecap averages almost a mile in thickness and contains about 10 percent of the total ice mass on the globe.

Olympics 2014: Let the Science Begin! Ethan Alpern Diane Noserale Alex Demas The 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia will be featuring many exciting events for the world to see. Though the Olympics Games is the premier athletic competition worldwide, the games also bridge the gap between science and sports by covering a number of Earth science topics as well. The Arctic Ocean is capped by a dynamic layer of sea ice that grows each winter and shrinks each summer, reaching its yearly minimum extent each fall. NASA’s Aqua satellite used microwaves to capture this snapshot of Arctic sea ice on September 3, 2010. The yearly minimum had not yet been reached, but past history says Geospectrum WINTER 2014

the low point should occur sometime in mid-September. Perhaps what is most striking in this picture is the extent of the Greenland icecap—almost the whole island is overlain by a huge and deep (almost three miles deep in places) sheet of ice. The Greenland icecap averages almost a mile in thickness and contains about 10 percent of the total ice mass on the globe.

Water Usage in the Rink The opening ceremonies, along with the indoor events: ice hockey, figure skating, short track speed skating, curling, speed skating, and ice dancing will occur in seven arenas making up the “Coastal Cluster” of Olympic Park. The U.S. Geological Survey compiles water use statistics every five years and hopes to build towards a National Water Census. But how much water is used 6

NEWS to build an Olympic ice skating rink and how does that compare to domestic water use? According to How Stuff Works, an ice hockey rink needs between 12,000-15,000 gallons of water to create the ice surface before maintenance over the Olympic festivities. In the United States, the average person uses 54-190 gallons of water per day depending on where they live.

Climate and Land Use Change: Withdrawing from the Snowbank As the earth’s climate has warmed over recent decades, the amount of winter precipitation that falls as snow and accumulates as snowpack has changed substantially. Many regions have experienced more precipitation falling as rain rather than snow, with enhanced spring warming increasing rates of snowmelt resulting in reduced winter snowpack and earlier meltout. The USGS has studied changes in accumulated snowpack and snowcover in the western U.S. and Alaska, along with the closely related melting of perennial icefields and glaciers, changes in water resources, and the earlier onset of spring. These studies place recent changes within the context of the past century, and in several cases millennia, and indicate recent rates and spatial patterns of change are unusual relative to the past. This suite of climate driven changes to snow, ice, and water resources documented as occurring throughout the U.S. exemplifies broader global patterns, and now plays an important role in planning for the outdoor events of the Olympic Games. Obviously, both snow quantity and quality can and do have a major effect on athletes competing in skiing competitions. Last year in Sochi, Russia, the extremely low winter snowpack caused concern for this year’s Olympic Games. Similarly to the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, snowbanks have been set up in Sochi to preserve last year’s snow for the games. After the snowfall in 2013, roughly 28 million cubic feet of natural and artificial snow was moved into massive piles and covered with reflective and thick blankets to reduce melting. If there is not enough snowfall for all of the outdoor events for the 2014 games, workers will be able to produce more artificial snow from the 446 snow guns

Geospectrum WINTER 2014

positioned along the ski runs, and withdraw from the snowbank.

Olympic Minerals Stone, wood, clay, copper, bronze, and iron were known to the ancient Greeks in 776 BC, the year recorded as that of the first Olympic Games. But the quantity and variety of minerals that have come into use since the first games have grown dramatically. Today, the minerals we use include nearly every element on the periodic table. Minerals are critical to the Games including the fireworks during opening and closing ceremonies, transportation systems, venues, Olympic Village, power, lighting, communications systems, sports equipment, food, and even the medals worn by the athletes and the mobile devices they use during the Games all contain minerals.

Did you know that the Sochi Games will be the first Winter Games in the history of the Olympics to be held in a subtropical climate? The USGS provides scientific information about where mineral resources are known and suspected in the Earth’s crust. Each year, the USGS publishes the earliest government estimates of global mineral production and consumption data and trends for more than 90 individual non-fuel mineral commodities and materials. The 2014 USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries is expected to be available online by late February. In the meantime here are some amazing Olympic mineral facts:

The Olympic Torch Originally wood, but it is now high tech, with an aluminum body and inside fittings of steel, copper, and polymers. According to the organizers, 14,000 torches have been produced for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The torches were made to burn reliably in the extreme cold and winds of a Russian winter.

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NEWS The Medals Olive-leaf wreaths served as the prize to winners in the ancient games. At Sochi, a record 1,300 medals will be issued for the Olympic and Paralympic games, according to organizers. Each Gold Medal will contain gold and silver, each SilverMedal will contain silver, and each Bronze Medal will contain bronze produced from copper, tin, and zinc.

Geothermal Energy Use in the Olympic Games Russia and the IOC have announced that the Sochi Games will be carbon-neutral, which, among other ways, will be achieved by investing in renewable energy sources like geothermal energy. Geothermal energy comes from the natural heat of the interior of the Earth. People have benefited from geothermal since the days of the original Olympic Games, such as in hot springs and bath houses used by the Greeks and Romans alike. Today, geothermal energy is primarily used for electricity generation. USGS studies geothermal and, in 2008, released an assessment estimating that more than nine gigawatts of electrical power could be generated from identified systems in 13 Western states alone. For comparison, one megawatt of electric power would supply the needs of about 750 homes.

Color is a clue about composition: Gold v. Silver

Sports Equipment Equipment used in Winter Olympic events was formerly composed almost entirely of wood and steel. Today, aluminum, fiberglass, mineral-based fibers, and specialty steel alloys are used as well. Ice skates have chrome-plated, carbon-steel blades. Skis are aluminum, titanium, carbon-fiber, andboron-fiber base, with tungsten alloy balance weights. Boots are made from ceramic fibers (aluminum, clay, lithium,silica, tin, titanium, and zircon) and steel. Ski lift cables are made of alloy steel and cars contain aluminum and steel. Sled runners in skeleton and luge are made of steel. Biathlon rifles use a nitride-steel or stainless steel barrel.

Communications Technology Televisions, computers, cell phones and other handheld electronics, use aluminum, copper, gold, palladium,platinum, silver, and tungsten. What lights up the screen on most of these devices and the dash board in modern cars? Energy-efficient LED lighting:gallium, germanium, indium, and rare-earth elements. Geospectrum WINTER 2014

A view of Akutan Volcano from station AKGG. Photo courtesy of Plucinski, Tim.

Beyond the Competition The Olympic Games not only bring the world’s greatest athletes together on the international stage, but create economic opportunities for host nations, establish channels for foreign policy discussions, and facilitated learning experiences for the viewers.

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NEWS SSSA: The Economics of Soil Susan V Fisk, Soil Science Society of America For decades, scientists, politicians and environmentalists have been trying to put a value on the Earth’s natural resources. Once public utilities were in place, homeowners had to start paying for the water provided by their municipalities. But, how much should that water service cost? In the late 1990s, it became common for people to buy bottled water. Pricing is largely determined by market forces.

Although water has received attention as a natural resource to preserve, our Earth’s outermost layer, commonly called “soil,” has been ignored by the general public and the government. However, soil scientists are urging us to look at this resource and use it more wisely. Philippe Baveye, Kodak Chair of Environmental Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, has been working with other scientists and economists to create a model to value soil. Soil provides many “services” to the world. We grow our food in soil. The lumber for our homes and the cotton for our clothing also grow in soil. Soil is a major contributor to cleaning our water through both physical filtering systems and biological cleansing. Most of our recreation involves using soil, whether on a hiking path in the woods or a beach at the ocean. “Half the world’s population lives in houses made of soil,” says Baveye. And yet this precious resource still has not been given a value or any protection. The United States has had a Clean Air Act in place since 1970, and Geospectrum WINTER 2014

the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972. No legislation exists to protect soils. “Most models to place a value on any ecosystem service have been monetary,” says Baveye. “The conversation was started over fifty years ago, and yet scientists and economists have not made progress to place a value on the services soils provide.” Baveye suggests that looking solely at the monetary value of soil is a disservice to the natural resource. “There are ways to value the services of soils—or other natural resources—without a monetary value. For example, are people healthier because of their soil? We could use a health index to value soil for its contributions.” He will present his model to evaluate the value of soil at a symposium called “Soil’s Role in Restoring Ecosystem Services” sponsored by the Soil Science Society of America, March 6-8 in Sacramento, CA (http://bit.ly/1fFz0Kr) “We don’t need to put a monetary value on soil to prove its value and allow decisions to be made about protecting it,” says Baveye. Debates such as hydrofracking and shale gas all affect our soil, and placing a value on the soil may help decision makers. By using the real value of soil in our discussions, we may finally start to respect this natural resource and use it more wisely.

SME: Boy Scouts of American Launches Mining in Society Merit Badge Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration hosts official merit badge launch events at its annual meeting The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have launched the Mining in Society merit badge, the latest in a series of merit badges focused on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics. The Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. (SME), which was instrumental in the development of the Mining in Society merit badge, is holding a number of special launch events at its annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Feb. 23–26, 2014. Mining is highly important in society. From communications, transportation, power, construction, agriculture, and medicine to education, entertainment, and recreation, nearly every aspect of society relies on mining. 9

NEWS The materials found within a host of widely used items (or found in the machines used to produce those items) come from a mine. “Whether it’s the source of the metal in a Dutch oven or the key components in a smartphone, mining affects Scouts both in their Scouting activities and in their everyday lives, making this Mining in Society merit badge a great way for Scouts to gain a better understanding of some of the key building blocks of commonly used items,” said Chief Scout Executive Wayne Brock. “There are some important STEM lessons to be learned through earning this badge, and that focus may lead some Scouts to develop an even greater interest in the vastly important fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.” “By providing a factual and comprehensive program of instruction, the Mining in Society merit badge ensures that, for years to come, members of the next generation will be introduced to the importance of mining and minerals in their daily lives and have the opportunity to learn about careers in the industry,” said John Murphy, SME past president and chair of the SME Merit Badge Advisory Panel. The BSA selected SME to lead the development of the new Mining in Society merit badge because of the dedication and expertise of SME’s members. The SME Merit Badge Content Development Team and Advisory Panel worked diligently with the Boy Scouts of America to create a fun, compelling badge program that would focus on mining’s key components of exploration, permitting, excavation, processing, production, safety, and reclamation. Mining in Society merit badge launch activities at the SME annual meeting included the following: • SME Foundation Gala Dinner • SME volunteers who developed the badge and attended the 2013 National Scout Jamboree will be recognized. • Keynote Session Monday, Feb. 24, 2014 • Scouts led flag ceremony, SME volunteers who developed the badge and attended the 2013


• National Scout Jamboree will be recognized, and a video featuring Mining in Society badge expectations will be shown.

With the launch of the Mining in Society merit badge at this SME annual meeting, it is now imperative that informed and committed individuals volunteer to serve as counselors to assist Boy Scouts in earning the badge. This session will cover the topics of: 1) Mining in Society merit badge requirements; 2) Understanding the merit badge pamphlet and resources; 3) Facilitating Scouts earning the badge; and 4)How to become a merit badge counselor. For more information on the Mining in Society merit badge, visit www.scouting.org/meritbadges, http://bit. ly/1j0cofF, or www.smenet.org/MiningInSocietyMB (site available in early March). Resources for individuals who are interested in serving as a merit badge counselor are available here: http://bit.ly/1p8vgqj.

TSOP: Coal deposits as promising sources of lithium Reprinted with permission from TSOP

A.I. Khanchuk, V.V. Ivanov M.G. Blokhin N.V. Zarubina E-mail: [email protected] Russian Academy of Sciences, Far Eastern Branch Lithium as a clean energy metal is of great significance. The strong demands for rechargeable Li batteries in power systems promote the changing prominent role of Li from industrial productions to renewable and sustainable energy storage (Scrosati and Garche, 2010). Furthermore, Li is a fuel for future power generation through thermonuclear reaction, which is safer and cleaner than nuclear fission. With the inevitable increase of Li consumption, Li global production has grown from 15,100 t in 2003 to 37,000 t in 2012 increasing by 145% during ten years (Jaskula, 2013). Lithium is quite common in nature though it does not occur in elemental form due to its high reactivity and 10

NEWS solubility. For instance, the total lithium concentration in the seawater is very large and is estimated as 230 billion tones (Wajima, 2006), where the element presents at a relatively constant level of 100 to 200 μg/L. It has been known since previous century that in the sea environment Li can accumulate in sediments up to 50 μg/g (Turekian, Wedepohl, 1961). It was found that the average content of this element in sediments from some parts of Peter the Great bay (Sea of Japan) was about 20 μg/g (Blokhin, Kovekovdova, 2006; Blokhin, 2007). There are two main Li sources to supply world industry: evaporative brines and spodumene-bearing pegmatites. Presently, brine deposits are the preferred source of lithium due to low production cost and large Li reserves. However, Li supply from brine deposits faces significant challenges in geology, market and technique respects. This suggests that other deposits including pegmatites will remain of interest and might even grow as sources of lithium (Kesler et al., 2012). Nowadays some steps to search for new not traditional sources of valuable chemical elements are undertaken. So the first find of visible gold in ferromanganese crusts of the Pacific Ocean has been published (Mikhailik et al., 2013). It has become apparent that high carbon-content geological solids can be a perspective source of rear and noble metals. E.g. graphite-bearing rocks were demonstrated to be enriched by gold and PGE with possibility of their extraction (Khanchuk et al., 2010, 2011, 2013; Medkov et al., 2011; Zavodinsky et al., 2012). Series of researches is dedicated to geochemistry and new approaches to precious metals and germanium recovery from brown coals (Bratskaya et al., 2009; Avramenko et al., 2012; Yakushevich et al., 2013). Correlation of recovery efficiency with the mechanism of metal-humic interactions was defined. The initial average Li content of 15.6 g/g for world coal was reported by U.S. National Committee for Geochemistry (Geochemistry, 1980). The latest and authentic average contents of Li (Coal Clarke values) should be 12 g/g and 66 g/g for world coal and world coal ash, respectively (Ketris and Yudovich, 2009). In recent years, anomalous enrichment of Li in coals was discovered in China (Sun et al., 2010；2012a; Dai et al., 2010; 2012), although high Li concentrations (up to 0.1–0.3% Li or Geospectrum WINTER 2014

0.22–0.65% Li2O) in the host-rocks (not in coal) outside the coal seams were previously found in the Krylovsk and Verkhne-Bikinsk coal basins in the Russian Far East (Seredin et al., 2013; Seredin and Tomson, 2008). The average Li contents are 172 μg/g in coals from the Antaibo mine has been reported (Sun et al., 2010). The higher average Li concentration in Guanbanwusu mine was also reported by (Sun et al., 2012a): 264 μg/g in coal and 1320 μg/g (0.28% Li2O) in coal ash. Sun et al. (2012a; 2012b; 2013a; 2013b; 2013c) have proved firstly on the world that Li has enriched as a coal-associated Li deposits and have great potential economical significance in the Jungar coalfield and Pingshuo district, China, according to the data of 1100 coal samples from both coalfields. It is a very interesting and important discovery. It is a new type of Li deposit. Coal has been recently proposed as a promising Li source, especially in those countries where Li-bearing brines and pegmatites are limited (Seredin et al., 2013). Sun et al. (2012a) suggested firstly that Li in the Guanbanwusu mine can be seen as a deposit and reserves of Li in this mine are estimated to be 52,045 t of Li2O. Sun et al. (2013a) have reported that the Li contents have reached the industrial grade of the coal associated Li deposit, and the total Li reserves have reached 2406600 tons, that is, 5157000 tons Li2O in the No. 6 seam in the Jungar Coalfield. In addition to the Jungar Coalfield, the average Li content of 121, 156 and 295 μg/g was determined in the Coal Seams 4, 9 and 11, Pingshuo district, respectively (Sun et al., 2013b, 2013c), and the total Li reserves reached 100000, 558400 and 382600 tons, respectively. The highest concentration of Li2O was reported to be 0.83% in the coal ash. The above values of anomalous enriched Li concentrations are close to or higher than the industrial grade of 0.2% Li2O for the Li-bearing pegmatite deposits of China (DZ/T0203-2002, 2003). There is no industrial grade for Li in coal seams because associated Li ore deposit in coal has not been identified so far. Sun et al. (2012a) have proposed 120 μg/g as mining grade (industrial grade) for Chinese coals. These findings are all discovered in CarboniferousPermian coals, while Li enrichment in coals of other geological periods has not yet been reported. Lithium generally has an affinity to inorganic fraction in coals; 11

NEWS however, some of them are also related to organic matter (Sun et al., 2013a). References Avramenko, V.A., Bratskaya, S.Yu., Yakushevich, A.S., Voit, A.V., Ivannikov, S.I., Ivanov, V.V., 2012. Humic acids in brown coals from the Southern Russian Far East: general characteris cs and interac ons with precious metals. Geochemistry Interna onal 50(5), 437-446. Blokhin, M.G., Kovekovdova, L.T., 2006. Lithium and rubidium in marine organisms and sediments from Peter the Great Bay. Izves ya TINRO 147, 321-330. Blokhin, M.G., 2007. Ph.D. Thesis. Vladivostok, 20 p. Bratskaya, S.Yu., Volk, A.S., Us nov, A.Yu., Avramenko, V.A., Ivanov V.V., Barinov, N.N., 2009. A new approach to precious metals recovery from brown coals: correla on of recovery efficacy with the mechanism of metal-humic interac ons. Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta 73(11), 3301-3310. Dai, S., Jiang, Y., Ward, C.R., Gu, L., Seredin, V.V., Liu, H., Zhou, D., Wang, X., Sun, Y., Zou, J., Ren, D., 2012. Mineralogical and geochemical composi ons of the coal in the Guanbanwusu Mine, Inner Mongolia, China: Further evidence for the existence of an Al (Ga and REE) ore deposit in the Jungar Coalfield. Interna onal Journal of Coal Geology 98, 10-40. Dai, S., Zhao, L., Peng, S., Chou, C.-L., Wang, X., Zhang, Y., Li, D., Sun, Y., 2010. Abundances and distribu on of minerals and elements in high-alumina coal fly ash from the Jungar Power Plant, Inner Mongolia, China. Interna onal Journal of Coal Geology 81, 320332. DZ/T0203-2002, 2003. Geology and Ore Deposit Standard Specifica ons for Rare Metal Mineral Explora on of the People’s Republic of China. Geological Publishing, Beijing. ISBN 978-7-116-03802-8 (in Chinese). Geochemistry, U.S.N.C.f., 1980. Trace Element Geochemistry of Coal Resource Development Related to Environmental Quality and Health. Na onal Academy of Sciences : available from Na onal Academy Press, Washington. Khanchuk, A.I., Molchanov, V.P., Medvedev, E.I., Plusnina, L.P., 2010. Gene c types of gold-ore mineraliza on in graphite-bearing rocks of the Southern Far East. Doklady Earth Sciences 430(1), 86-89. Khanchuk, A.I., Plusnina, L.P., Kuzmina, T.V., Barinov, N.N., Nikitenko E.M., 2011. The noble metal distribu on in the black shales of the Degdekan gold deposit in Northeast Russia. Russia Journal of Pacific Geology 5(2), 89-96. Khanchuk, A.I., Plyusnina, L.P., Ruslan, A.V., Likhoidov, G.G., Barinov, N.N., 2013. Nature of graphi za on and noble metal mineraliza on in metamorphic rocks of the Northern Khanka terrane, Primorye. Geology of Ore Deposits 55(4), 225–244. Khanchuk, A.I., Nechaev, V.P., Plyusnina, L.P., Berdnikov, N.V., Molchanov, V.P., Vysotskiy, S.V., 2013. Noble metal-graphite mineralizaon: A compara ve study of the carbonaceous granite-gneiss complex and shales of the Russian Far East. Ore Geology Reviews 53, 276–286. Jaskula, B.W., 2013. Lithium. U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, h p://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/mcs-2013-lithi.pdf.

Reviews 48, 55-69. Ketris, M.P., Yudovich, Y.E., 2009. Es ma ons of Clarkes for Carbonaceous biolithes: World averages for trace element contents in black shales and coals. Interna onal Journal of Coal Geology 78, 135-148. Medkov, M.A., Epov, D.G., Krysenko, G.F., Khanchuk, A.I., Molchanov, V.P., Plusnina, L.P., 2011. The development of a method for extrac ng noble metals from high-carbon raw material. Doclady Chemistry 436(1), 15-18. Mikhailik, E.V., Khanchuk, A.I., Mikhailik, P.E., Barinov, N.N., Zarubina, N.V., 2013. The first find of visible gold in ferromanganese crusts of the Pacific Ocean. Doklady Academii Nauk 449(5), 574-578. Scrosa , B., Garche, J., 2010. Lithium ba eries: Status, prospects and future. Journal of Power Sources 195, 2419-2430. Seredin, V.V., Dai, S.F., Sun, Y.Z., Chekryzhov, I.Y., 2013. Coal deposits as promising sources of rare metals for alterna ve power and energy-efficient technologies. Applied Geochemistry 31, 1-11. Seredin, V.V., Tomson, I.N., 2008. The West Primorye noble-rare metal zone: A new cenozoic metallogenic taxon in the Russian Far East. Doklady Earth Sciences 421, 745-750. Sun, Y., Li, Y., Zhao, C., Lin, M., Wang, J., Qin, S., 2010. Concentra ons of Lithium in Chinese Coals. Energy Explora on & Exploita on 28, 97-104. Sun, Y., Zhao, C., Li, Y., Wang, J., Liu, S., 2012a. Li distribu on and mode of occurrences in Li-bearing coal seam # 6 from the Guanbanwusu Mine, Inner Mongolia, northern China Energy Explora on & Exploita on 30, 109-130. Sun, Y., Yang, J., Zhao, C., 2012b. Minimum mining grade of associated Li deposits in coal seams. Energy Explora on & Exploita on 30, 167-170. Sun, Y.Z., Zhao, C.L., Li, Y.H., Wang, J.X., Zhang, J.Y., Jin, Z., Lin, M.Y., Kalkreuth, W., 2013a. Further informa on of the associated Li deposits in the No.6 Coal Seam at Jungar Coalfield, Inner Mongolia, northern China. ACTA Geologica Sinica 87(4), 801-812. Sun, Y.Z., Zhao, C.L., Li, Y.H., Wang, J.X., Lin, M.Y., 2013b. Li distribuon and mode of occurrences in Li-bearing Coal Seam 9 from Pingshuo Mining District, Ningwu Coalfield, northern China. Energy EducaƟon Science and Technology Part A: Energy Science and Research 31(1), 47-58. Sun, Y.Z., Zhao, C.L., Zhang, J.Y., Yang, J.J., Zhang, Y.Z., Yuan, Y., Xu, J., Duan, D.J., 2013c. Concentra ons of valuable elements of the coals from the Pingshuo Mining District, Ningwu Coalfield, Northern China. Energy ExploraƟon & ExploitaƟon 31 (5), 727744. Turekian, K.K., Wedepohl, K.H., 1961. Distribution of the elements in some major units of the earth’s crust. Bull. Geol. of Amer. 2, 72-84. Wajima, T. et al., 2006, Proc. Renew. Energy, 1489. Yakushevich, A.S., Bratskaya, S.Yu., Ivanov, V.V., Polyakova, N.V., Avramenko, V.A., 2013. Forms of germaniun presence in brown coals of germaniun-bearing mine in Primorye. Geochimiya 5, 453-461. Zavodinsky, V.G., Khanchuk, A.I., Mikhailenko, E.A., 2012. Towards to extrac on of nanodispersed noble metals from natural black graphite shales. European Researher 1, 12-19.

Kesler, S.E., Gruber, P.W., Medina, P.A., Keoleian, G.A., Everson, M.P., Wallington, T.J., 2012. Global lithium resources: Rela ve importance of pegma te, brine and other deposits. Ore Geology


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NEWS GSL: Dr. Woodward’s fossils Reprinted with permission from GSL

Dr Ken McNamara Director of the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge UK

Dr John Woodward, ‘a vain, foolish and affected man.’

For three hundred years, 5 beautiful walnut veneer cabinets, like elegant Regency secretaires, have been the home to almost 10,000 “Fossils of all Kinds” in the University of Cambridge. These were originally the personal collection of Dr John Woodward (1665 (or 8) – 1728). Professor of Physick at Gresham College, Fellow of the Royal Society and “a vain, foolish and affected man”, Woodward was an enigma. Reviled by most of his contemporaries, who thought him a conceited, vain, arrogant popinjay, he was a man who played a crucial role in initiating the science of geology. This was not so much by what he did during his life, but by what he left behind after his death. One bequest was £100 per year to endow a position of ‘lecturer’ in the University of Cambridge; the second was his collection Geospectrum WINTER 2014

of fossils, rocks and minerals, which he also left to the university. The legacy of these two munificent deeds, was the establishment of the most continuous and oldest professorship in geology in the world – which to date has had 17 occupants – the Woodwardian Professors, and the establishment of what is arguably the oldest geological museum in the world. Formerly called the Woodwardian Museum, it is still going strong in the guise of the Sedgwick Museum. What is remarkable about this collection is that it has remained intact for so long. This is largely due to Woodward’s foresight. In his will he stipulated that the collection was to be made available for public viewing “to shew the said Fossils gratis, to all such curious and intelligent persons as shall desire a view of them for their information and instruction”. He even stipulated when it should be opened, “from the hour of nine of the clock in the morning to eleven, and again from the hour of two in the afternoon till four, three days in every week…” Moreover, Woodward specified that the collection should be audited each year. This meant that, unlike other contemporary collections that were dispersed on the death of their owners, Woodward’s has remained complete. Woodward was an avid collector himself, but rather than, as was fashionable at the time, constructing yet another “Cabinet of Curiosities’, he argued that collections such as these should be used for the advancement of knowledge. In an article published in 1728, the year he died, but probably written some 30 years earlier, he wrote “Brief Descriptions for making Observations and Collections…” of fossils, mineral and rocks. What it was necessary to do was to attach “…a Number upon it… Then in the Register, enter Numbers, answering those fix’d on the Fossils, what Sort of Fossil or Mineral ‘tis reputed to be… Where ‘twas found…whether it was found on the Surface of the Earth” and so on. This was all most laudable, and this is probably the first comprehensive description of how natural history collections should be curated. Woodward’s views on fossils were also very advanced for the time. Unlike many of his contemporaries, such as Robert Plot and Martin Lister, who considered that fossils were little more than ‘sports 14

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of nature’ created by some ‘plastic virtue latent within the Earth’, Woodward regarded them as the remains of once living organisms, a view shared by Robert Hooke and John Ray. Woodward collected many of his English fossils, minerals and rocks himself, though latterly, as his medical practice grew, he employed assistants to help him. It is a testament to his meticulous recording of details of his specimens in his published catalogue (1728) that we even know which was the very first fossil he found (a Jurassic brachiopod from the Cotswolds that he collected on January 13, 1690), now on display in the Sedgwick Museum. Woodward also had an amazing group of contacts in England and scattered around the world (some say more than 500) who provided him with specimens. These included Isaac Newton and Christopher Wren. The five specimens that Newton gave to Woodward were all the mineral cinnabar. Interestingly this mercury ore was much used in alchemical experiments and Newton may well have used the specimens for this purpose. Woodward also received specimens from the explorer William Dampier (the first Englishman to land in Australia, 100 years before James Cook). Dampier presented Woodward with two ethnographic objects. The axe and slingshot, which are on display in the Sedgwick Museum, represent the first ethnographic objects collected from the South Pacific by Europeans. Ancients vs Moderns Woodward’s main aim in amassing this very comprehensive collection was to provide an authoritative basis for his most influential book, ‘An Essay Toward a Natural Geospectrum WINTER 2014

History of the Earth’ that was published in 1685. But his book is where it all went horribly wrong. In the great philosophical debate that took place during the late 17th and early 18th centuries between the “Ancients” (people like Pope, Swift, Gay and Arbuthnot) and the “Moderns” (Newton, Hooke, Boyle), Woodward was firmly with the latter in arguing that the only way to understand the world was by undertaking meticulous observations and experiments, not by harking back to the views of classical writers. Woodward’s mistake was a lapse into the Ancients way of thinking, clinging to that most antiquated of ideas, the biblical explanation for the formation of the Earth – in the Universal Flood. Woodward vehemently argued that strata were laid down and the fossils incorporated within them as they settled out under the influence of gravity after this cataclysmic flood. While he had his supporters, his trenchant views were regarded with disdain by the Ancients who satirized him remorselessly. But Woodward’s book is not his legacy. His legacy is the string of Woodwardian Professors, some of whom, such as Adam Sedgwick, were to play a pivotal role in helping to establish geology as a legitimate science. Moreover, many of them added extensively to Woodward’s core collection, with the result that there are now more than 2 million geological specimens in the collection that started when Woodward picked up his first fossil. Link to Original Post: http://bit.ly/1gDualDt

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NEWS PS: Dawn of the Deed Review reprinted with permission from the Paleontological Society

Reviewed by Mike Meyer Western Carolina University Sex and death are two seminal aspects of the evolutionary process, and while the investigation of death gets an abundance of invigorating investigation in paleontology, the origin, development, and types of sexual behavior (particularly in vertebrates) is often neglected. The Dawn of the Deed tries to rectify this by penetrating the void in our understanding of ancient sexual behavior (both animal and human). Given some of the subjects the author covers, such as why males should be complimented by an anatomical duck analogy in the bedroom, the book is easy and fun to read without being too cheeky, but with a good sense of humor. Given my enjoyment reading it, I would have liked the book to be longer, at fewer than 300 pages I thought the end came too soon. The book begins wooing the reader in the table of contents with inventive chapter titles such as: “The Ptyctodontid Kind of Congress”, “Down and Dirty in the Devonian”, and “Sex and the Single Ostracod”. The chapter title (and the chapter itself ) that makes reference to the Bloodhound Gang’s song “The Bad Touch” was my favorite by far. One of the ways the author keeps the reader interested is that the book is really two tales intimately intertwined. The first is an autobiographical account of the discovery of the oldest evidence for live birth (and its other associated ‘bits’) while the other is the titillating grand tale of how we and our ancestors do/did the deed. Though I enjoyed the autobiographical tract, it is aimed toward a lay audience in that the author describes a lot of the basics of the scientific process and how research is conducted. I firmly agree with the author that this sort of information is important to convey to the public so they have a better understanding of science in general and of what we as scientists do (especially paleontologists), Geospectrum WINTER 2014

but for active researchers these few parts can be tedious. The grand tale of how Devonian sex organs gave rise to our own is one of the most interesting aspects of the book in that it covers a wide girth of subjects, from the function of shark claspers, to the rather terrify mating habits of ducks, or that bedbugs are even worse lovers than bedmates. The male bed bug mates through the process of ‘traumatic insemination’ in which he stabs the female with his ‘phallus’ and ejaculates directly into her body. Romantic. Overall, while possibly the only piece of scientific literature you may glance to your sides while reading in public, this book is a fun read for anyone seduced by Earth and life sciences. Long, J.A. 2012. The Dawn of the Deed: The Prehistoric Origins of Sex. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 296 pp. ($18.20 cloth, $11.90 paper, $12.60 e-book with 30% Paleontological Society discount.)

SEPM, GSA and others fund young woman’s expedition and early career success Maureen Moses American Geosciences Institute for SEPM

Credit Holly Dunsworth

In geoscientist Lauren Michel’s early academic career she has conducted research in Africa, helped discover an ancient forest, found evidence about early primate speciation—with implications for human evolution— and recently published in Nature Communications, but Michel notes she could not have done it alone, and 16

NEWS attributes membership in societies for much of the support needed to be greeted with success. One of her PhD advisors at Baylor University, Daniel Peppe had received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to research the origins of the early ape Proconsul on Rusinga Island, Lake Victoria, Kenya. While research related to Peppe’s grant was necessary for her dissertation, the grant did not cover her travel to the field site. With support of her advisor she took the initiative to apply for private grants through different organizations so she too could work in her dissertation field site. She knew about the existence of student grants from scientific societies through advice from both Dr. Peppe and her other advisor Dr. Steven Driese. They urged her to seek out funding from societies and become an active member. However, it wasn’t until a research conference she attended run by the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) - Paleosols and Soil Surface Analog Systems at Petrified Forest National Park, AZ in 2010 that she saw the real value of membership. There, SEPM staff member, Theresa Scott and Michel spent time talking about Michel’s research and Scott shared how SEPM tried to bolster student research through small grants, so Michel researched what kind of organizations could provide funding for her research. “Applying for the student grants was an exciting and stressful experience,” Michel said, “On one hand, the grant deadlines overlapped with important testing and project deadlines I had at school, but on the other hand it was exciting to propose the project I was doing.” The

Credit Lauren Michel


process of customizing each grant to for each organization took weeks but the hard work paid off. At first she received funding from SEPM and GSA, two AGI Member Organizations, but the grant awards continued. In the end, she received funds from GSA, SEPM, The Explorers Club, the Evolving Earth Foundation and university funds from Baylor. In total she was able to support herself, and two undergraduates to conduct field studies in Kenya.

Artist rendering of Preconsul in the proposed dense-canopy habitat by Jason Brougham

Michel was blown away by the positive response to her grant proposals but said, “I was immediate and up front about why I should be funded. It’s easy in our field to get lost in the science and forget that our team was also telling a story.” The story that transpired has provided ecological context for one of the earliest ape species. “While excavating one of the fossil sites on Rusinga Island, our team found four teeth from Proconsul amid an expansive fossil forest system,” Michel said. “Ultimately, we were able to find 29 tree stump casts and unearth root casts in the same horizon as the fossil teeth.” “The varying diameters of the tree stumps coupled with their density within the fossil soil, implies that the forest would have been comprised of trees with 17

NEWS interlocking or overlapping branches, thus creating a canopy,” Michel said. Several manuscripts later, the research she and her team conducted has been published, and she successfully defended her PhD. Michel notes there is no physical way should could be where she is today had she not been funded by the societies. “I’m honored that I have been able to work so closely with the leadership at the different societies. They’re really amazing people.” “I think as a student you don’t always realize you should join these societies,” Michel said, “but they have provided me so much in terms of networking, outreach and funding opportunities, and I am so lucky to have had these experiences through society support. Based on my experiences I realize how important it is to retain your membership through your professional career to help give back, to those who are just starting out.”

AEG: 2013 Outstanding Environmental and Engineering Geologic Project Elwha River Restoration Project National Park Service United States Bureau of Reclamation Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Reprinted with permission from AEG

The National Park Service, United States Bureau of Reclamation and Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe are recognized for the Elwha River Restoration Project and contributions to environmental and engineering geology made by the project. The project removed the 105 foot Elwha Dam and Lake Aldwell and the 210 foot Glines Canyon Dam and Lake Mills; the largest dam deconstruction in the U.S. The removal of these dams and river restoration was supported by investigations into sediment management, shoreline erosion, flood protection and landslide hazards around the reservoirs. The estimated volume of sediment held behind the two dams is 34 million cubic yards and dam removal creates one of the largest controlled sediment release projects in history. Large volumes of sediment released during dam deconstruction necessitated controlling turbidity with innovative designs for dam removal, Geospectrum WINTER 2014

Glines Canyon Dam during removal. Image courtesy of the National Park Service.

water quality treatment, erosion control and monitoring. Numerous studies and models of how this sediment will move downstream have been completed and sediment monitoring efforts are ongoing. The magnitude of the sediment volume released provides a unique opportunity to study the geomorphological aspects of reintroducing huge volumes of sediment to a shoreline system that has been starved of sediment and actively eroding for 100 years. The ecosystem restoration project is the second largest in National Park Service history and includes hundreds of acres of revegetation and intensive fisheries monitoring and adaptive management. Removal of the dams opens over 70 miles of river and tributary streams with the Elwha River basin and allows the return of 10 runs of native anadromous salmon and trout to the river. Lakes Aldwell and Mills inundated culturally important lands belonging to Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. Tribal members now have access to their creation site, historical cultural lands and heritage. This project displays national significance, demonstrates the applications of environmental and engineering geology, shows recognition and respect for the environment, history and culture of the project area and provides an opportunity for public education.

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NEWS Former AGI President Bob Hatcher lands another accolade Leigh Sutherland American Geosciences Institute Robert D. Hatcher Jr., Distinguished Scientist and Professor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and former AGI President (1996), was unanimously approved by the AGI Executive Committee to receive the 2014 Marcus Milling Legendary Geoscientist Medal. This award honors a lifetime contributor of high quality scientific achievements and service to the Earth sciences, and the Selection Committee’s nomination report highlighted his achieving legendary status for his lifetime of commitment to field mapping-based research, combining the latest geochemical, isotopic and modeling techniques. He is also well known for his extensive research on the geologic structure and history of the Appalachians. Dr. Hatcher has served on several Geological Society of America and National Academy of Science committees. He has been President of GSA (1993). He has been Chair of the GSA Honorary Fellows Committee, and Co-Chair of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists History of Petroleum Geologists Committee and convened three GSA Perose Conferences. A Penrose Conference to be held this spring will honor his career. He was also honored with the Ian Campbell and Penrose medals in 2006. He earned his B.A. and M.S. degrees in geology and chemistry in 1961 and 1962 respectively from Vanderbilt University and his Ph.D. in 1965 in structural geology from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. He has a long history of teaching and has mentored many students. Dr. Hatcher will receive this medal at the awards ceremony on April 6, 2014, in Houston as part of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists annual meeting. He will also receive recognition at the AGI Past Presidents Dinner being held on April 5.


Peace, Love and Palynology A message from the new AASP president Reprinted with permission from AASP

Lanny Fisk I can’t believe that it has been over a month since many of us got together in San Francisco for the 46th annual meeting and the coronation of a new president – me. Yeah, that’s a picture of me below at the Ice Breaker Reception. I have not yet fully unpacked and am far from ever catching up on e-mail correspondence. At the height of the chaos in the last three days before leaving for San Francisco, I was receiving more than 220 e-mails per day. I can assure you that at that rate (nearly 10 e-mails per hour), it is impossible to keep up with the information flow. Thanks much to all of you for allowing me the truly great privilege of representing you as your President during the coming year and thanks to all Past Presidents and in particular Past President Ian Harding for keeping the AASP (now AASP-The Palynological Society) ball rolling. It feels good becoming President of an organization that is rolling along so smoothly, with strong financials (Thanks to our over-worked Secretary/ Treasurer Thomas Demchuk), membership enthusiasm (It’s all your fault!), and exciting plans for the future (More about this topic later). Both expectations and enthusiasm are high – much like much of San Francisco was in the ‘60s and ‘70s. I know some Past Presidents are envious, because they had to work their butts off during their tenure to get us where we are today. And, I say Thanks to each and every one of them. Rather than continually putting out fires and battling storms, thanks to their hard work, I can concentrate on answering the question: What can I do during my tenure to make the organization even better? Every President should have clearly stated goals and objectives. Following the advice to Keep It Simple and Specific (KISS – sorry if you thought the last S stood for Stupid; I’m not agreeing to that!), as AASP-TPS President, I have only one goal: To Keep the Ball Rolling. In my opinion, the organization is rolling in the right direction, down the right path, and even gaining speed; my goal is 19

NEWS only to keep it on course during my tenure. To be more specific, I have the following six objectives (some real, some farcical); your mission (should you agree to accept it) is to sort out which is real and which is farcical.

2. To do more to encourage student memberships, awards, and attendance at meetings.

1. To chose an official theme song for the organization.

3. To do more to recognize the contributions to this organization from the “older crowd”

Every organization needs a theme song, to lead the parade, to sing over brews (or wine if you prefer), to keep you awake at the microscope. I suggest “Blowin’ in the Wind”, a folk song written by Bob Dylan in 1962 (only five years before the emergence of AASP), but certainly made famous by Peter, Paul, and Mary, the most popular folk trio of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Although “Blowin’ in the Wind” has been described as a protest song, it poses a series of rhetorical questions about peace, war, and freedom. The refrain “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind” (Are you singing?) has been described as “impenetrably ambiguous: either the answer is so obvious it is right in your face, or the answer is as intangible as the wind”. In 1999, this song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 2004, it was ranked #14 on the Rolling Stone magazines list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” To me, “blowin’ in the wind” is a perfect description of airborne, wind-blown, or anemophilous pollen and spores – the kind most of us study as palynologists. I was going to formally propose this theme song nearly 40 years ago, but hesitated because I did not want to offend my friends who were dinoflagellate specialists. Dinoflagellates don’t blow in the wind, Stupid! Oh, but they do, mate! Low and behold, at the San Francisco meeting there was an abstract entitled “Blowin’ in the wind…100 Ma old dinoflagellate trapped in resin” by three French palynologists J. Dejax, E. Masure, and G. De Ploëg. My fears now relieved of offending a fellow palynologist, as one of my first duties as President I hereby formally propose that the AASP-TPS official theme song be “Blowin’ in the Wind”. Do I hear any other nominations? Hearing none, I hereby declare that we’ll take a wait and see attitude on this issue. In other words, I’ll wait to see your attitude! Real or farcical? What do you think?


I’ll provide more thoughts on this later.

– especially those who have supported the organization for more than 25 years. Some of whom have sweat blood for this organization and spent far too many long hours on AASP business, more hours than we want to admit because we are ashamed for their mistreatment and feel guilty for asking them to give even more. These near superhuman efforts to keep the organization afloat during hard times or helping the organization grow when it was floundering, must be recognized. Anyone who has had their oar in the palynological waters for more than 25 years as an AASP member has contributed significantly to this organization’s success. While we have smooth sailing, it’s time to take them off their ration of hardtack and give them the recognition they deserve. Let them stand on the deck and feel the sun. Wine and cheese for everyone of these hardworking blokes! Stay tuned to a Newsletter near you for further updates on this objective as well.

4. To plan for the 50th anniversary year of the organization, starting in 2017 and ending with our annual meeting in 2018. I propose that the 50th anniversary meeting be held where else but where it all began -- in Baton Rouge, Louisiana? I suggest the theme “Back to the Future” with the recognition that it is the past that has set the stage for our future. So, let’s review the last 50 years of palynology. What was the science actually like in 19671968? What did we know then? What didn’t we know then? What have we learned since? Where do we need to look for future advances? I’ll save this topic for my last President’s letter, just before I turn over the gavel and Robert’s Rules of Order to our newly crowned queen bee Jennifer O’Keefe as President Elect. Congratulations Jen.

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NEWS 5. To help organize a successful 46th annual meeting. Mission accomplished, in my humble opinion.

6. To increase the membership to at least 500. If each current member recruited just one other person, our membership would double. Please help us reach this goal. It wasn’t the largest and probably not even the best (I can recall some great ones from the past!), but in my totally unbiased but nonetheless tongue-in-cheek opinion, Peace, Love and Palynology (aka San Francisco 2013) was a huge success in many ways. The Organizing Committee promised that the 46th Annual Meeting of AASP-The Palynological Society would be memorable, and they made good on their promise. The greatness of the meeting was I think largely due to three things: 1) the extraordinary hard work of the Organizing Committee (Thanks again to each of you!), 2) the financial support of all of our sponsors (Please accept our sincere appreciation for your generous help), and 3) holding the meeting jointly with Dino10, Canadian Association of Palynologists, Commission Internationale de la Microflore du Paléozoïque, and the North American Micropaleontology Section of SEPM. The meeting was attended by 183 persons (175 regular registrants, plus 8 invited guests) – more than three times larger than some recent annual meetings of AASP-TPS alone. Thanks in large part to our much appreciated sponsors (see following page), coupled with some frugality on the part of the Organizing Committee, we were able to close the books on the meeting with some cash left over that can be used as “seed money” for future meetings. This, despite the fact that expenses for the meeting were exorbitantly high. Although they were expected for a Geospectrum WINTER 2014

tourist destination like San Francisco, it still felt more like we were paying extortion. We had to pay $3,000 to set up our own website to host meeting information and allow for registrations and hotel room reservations. AV equipment rental was $4,000, poster board rental $3,000, transportation costs $5,500, etc., etc. When meeting on a university campus, most of these expenses are never seen, but when meeting in downtown San Francisco, it’s a different story, Man. Consequently, registration fees were high compared to most recent AASP-TPS meetings. Still, many registrants said that the meeting was well worth the price paid for admittance. Without the generous help of our sponsors (Saudi Aramco, Shell, ConocoPhillips, etc.), registration fees would have had to been doubled. We are also extremely appreciative of smaller donations ($500-$1,000) from small consulting firms – a significant change from previous meetings and one we should encourage in the future. At least twenty one (21) countries were represented by one or more delegates at the meeting. Next to the USA, the highest number of registrants were from Canada (naturally), followed in order by UK, China, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. When I looked at that sea of faces rushing between sessions, I could only say: “Wow; this truly is an international organization.” Students made up nearly 25% of those in attendance and they contributed hugely to the success of the meeting. Some students came long distances and without financial aid. Some gave more than one oral presentation or poster. In all, there were 100 oral presentations and 48 posters representing the best of the best research in palynology from around the globe. What a show!! The science was mind bogling; the presentations were mind blowing. Even the weather cooperated for the dinner cruise around San Francisco Bay. The two previous evenings the fog was so thick in San Francisco that you could barely see your hand in front of your face, but for the dinner cruise Tuesday evening the fog lifted, allowing us to see the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz, shoreline cities, and even the Golden Gate Bridge (well, at least the bottom half!). The weather was pleasant also on both field trips – pre-conference Napa Valley and post-conference Sierra Gold Country. The numerous positive statements we 21

NEWS received about the field trips were really appreciated, as were your not mentioning the long drives between rest stops and the bus break down (of course!). The scenery was great, the wine was pleasant, but the camaraderie was excellent. An added feature at the 46th annual meeting – a contest “Name It and Claim It” -- was well received. This contest was to name either or both a plush, stuffed toy pollen grain or inoflagellate using Linnean binomial nomenclature. Entries had to be in full compliance with the Code of Botanical Nomenclature. The winners each day could claim as their prize the stuffed holotype specimen. The grand prize winner took home the holotype specimen plus $100 cash. Judging was based on creativity and compliance with the Code. The grand prize winner was Lucy Edwards who named the grass-like, monoporate pollen grain Fuzzipollenites rotundus gen. and sp. nov. and referred this new taxon to the new family Fuzziaceae. She’ll probably be submitting a paper formally naming and describing this new taxon to the systematic section of our journal Palynology soon. Watch for it. At the Business Luncheon Wednesday noon, more awards and honors were presented than at most previous annual meetings. Estella Leopold was honored by a symposium in her name – the Leopold Cenozoic Palynology Symposium – and she received the AASP Medal for Scientific Excellence. Vaughn Bryant received the AASP Medal for Teaching Excellence. Paul Nygreen and John Williams both received Honorary Life Memberships. Paul, the first president of AASP, attended the meeting, along with his wife and children. The meeting was dedicated to the memory of William (Bill) R. Evitt. Bill’s wife, two sons, and a daughter-in-law were present to enjoy the dedication given by Barrie Dale as part of the opening ceremony. Barrie gave a masterful presentation of Evitt’s professional career, sprinkled with personal anecdotes. Well done indeed, Barrie. And thanks from everyone for the memories. The venue was the old (built in 1908) but well maintained Hotel Whitcomb in downtown San Francisco, only one block from Geospectrum WINTER 2014

the bronze plaque that reads “Heart of San Francisco”. For those of you who were unable to attend the meeting, we missed you. The San Francisco 2013 meeting is now part of the past; but it was truly memorable.

AAG: Supporting the Regional Divisions President Julie Winkler (2015) Michigan State University Over the years, the AAG Newsletter has been peppered with presidential columns about the AAG regional divisions. The nine regional divisions host their annual meetings during autumn, and, barring scheduling conflicts, the AAG president represents the national-level Association at these meetings. Hence, it is only natural that former presidents have wanted to share with the AAG membership their thoughts on this intense, motivating, and rather exhausting experience. Foci of past columns have included approaches for enhancing attendance at the regional meetings, ways that the regional meetings can advance geography, opportunities for students, the relative participation of faculty and students from undergraduate-only and Ph.D.-granting geography departments, and the regional division structure itself. I would like to add my thoughts to this ongoing discussion. However, my travels to the regional meetings coincide with ongoing deliberations by the AAG Council of the challenges and opportunities for the regional divisions. At the AAG Council meeting earlier this month, an entire morning session was reserved for the discussion of two questions posed to the regional and national councillors: How have changes in the “external” environment during the past two decades impacted your regional division, considering both the opportunities they create and the challenges they pose? How can the regional divisions strengthen geography at the national level and the AAG specifically? Thus, I also draw on that discussion for this column. My overall impression is that the regional divisions have enormous potential for supporting geography and geographers. Some of this potential is very much realized, but much also remains untapped. Geographers require opportunities and venues for professional development throughout their careers. Some geographers 22

NEWS will seek development opportunities primarily through AAG national-level activities, such as the AAG annual meeting, and/or through professional offerings from other organizations. But for others, the regional division meetings can provide an important additional, or even alternative, professional development venue. Some geographers may find that the smaller, more intimate regional meetings facilitate networking and the establishment of new research and teaching collaborations. The regional meetings can also be an ideal venue for sharing findings and for interacting with peers for those geographers conducting regionally focused research. For others, the regional meetings can provide an initial foray into disciplinary professional activities. Many geographers, myself included, presented their first paper or poster at a regional meeting. Also, the regional meetings can, and should be, a means for non-geographers interested in working more closely with geographers to introduce themselves to the discipline in a less formal setting. The regional meetings can also fill a professional development role for those geographers whose professional and personal constraints make participation in national-level activities challenging. Some geographers, including many community college faculty, are limited by their employers to only a few off-site days per year, hindering their ability to participate in the nearly weeklong AAG annual meeting. Entrepreneurial geographers lose revenue every day away from their businesses. Other geographers are caring for small children or elderly relatives, making extended periods away from home difficult. In these situations, the shorter regional meetings, which often overlap with the weekend, are a more accessible professional development venue. In order to tap into their full potential, regional divisions need to closely monitor the effectiveness of their annual meeting. Viewing the regional meetings through the lens of professional development can help with this assessment. An initial question is simply whether the meeting attendance is diverse and, if not, whether there are sectors within the geography community who feel that the regional meetings are not providing the professional development opportunities they are seeking. For example: Is attendance from graduate, four-year, and two-year academic programs proportional to the number and size of these programs within the region? Geospectrum WINTER 2014

Are non-academic geographers in attendance? Do undergraduate and graduate students participate? The quality of the professional development that is offered to attendees is also important: Is informal networking facilitated? Has care been taken to minimize conflicting sessions so that attendees can easily participate in all sessions of interest to them, maximizing exposure to, and feedback on, each other’s presentations? Are workshops or other skill-enhancing opportunities provided? These and similar assessment questions can help identify gaps in what the regional meetings are offering, and also can point to potential enhancements. Discussion and assessment also needs to occur at the national level, and, in advance of the fall council meeting, the AAG Regional Councillors collectively identified a suite of challenges and opportunities for the regional divisions. A number of the challenges (continued reductions in travel funding, increased conference costs, undervaluation by employers and administration of participation in the regional organizations) are not surprising, but one potential challenge that garnered considerable discussion is that new faculty within a region may be unaware of what the regional meetings have to offer, especially if they are graduates of programs that historically have not participated in their regional division. Potential opportunities include greater advertisement of the regional divisions to AAG members, more joint regional conferences, sponsored plenary speakers who have broad public appeal, and the sharing of best practices among regions. The latter, sharing of best practices, was viewed as having particular potential, as many AAG members are familiar with only a small number of the regional divisions (often the division in which they currently work and the one where they completed their education). The AAG Council and Central Office are undertaking several initiatives in support of the regional divisions. Regional division chairs have been invited to a luncheon meeting at the AAG annual meeting in Tampa to discuss with Council members their perceptions on the future of the regional divisions and the linkages between the regional and national components of the AAG. Following the luncheon, a two-hour workshop intended for all regional division officers will focus on sharing best practices, including practices and initiatives for membership 23

NEWS recruitment and retention, meeting organization, hosting joint meetings, communication with members, and financial management. AAG Central Office staff will also be present to share insights based on their national-level experiences. In further support of the regional meetings, the Council approved at their fall meeting an extension of the childcare subsidy offered to attendees at the AAG annual meeting to attendees of the regional meetings, although at a reduced rate reflective of the shorter duration of the regional meetings. The provision of this subsidy recognizes that for some AAG members the regional division is their professional association, and that these members should have the same benefits as those who mainly participate in national-level activities. I was fortunate to be able to attend the annual meetings of eight of the nine regional divisions, five this Fall and three last year. Frankly, this experience was one of my more rewarding professional opportunities in quite awhile. Each meeting had its own “flavor,” but some of the lingering highlights and memories, beyond the excellent scientific presentations and posters, include: the APCG member who subsidized the banquet tickets for student first-authors of papers and posters; the moving and relevant keynote address on memorialization of university tragedies at the joint West Lakes/East Lakes meeting hosted by Northern Illinois University, a university that experienced such a tragedy first hand; the pleasure of an esteemed geographer, someone I personally admire, in receiving SEDAAG’s Lifetime Achievement Award; the motion at the SWAAG business meeting to work to make their meetings more family friendly; meeting Maryland’s Chief Innovation Officer at the MAD meeting and discovering that he is a geographer; the vanloads of undergraduate students who attended the Middle States meeting and their incredible presentations; the open house at the University of Nebraska-Omaha Geography Department, host of the GPRM meeting, and viewing their enviable facilities; talking with an assistant professor from a major Ph.D. program, a first time attendee of the SWAGG meeting, who was thrilled with the attendance and feedback for his paper presentation; the gift basket of local products delivered to my hotel by the Geography Club at Stephen F. Austin University; and the Mark Twain impersonator at the APCG banquet who relived Twain’s adventures as a reporter for the Territorial Geospectrum WINTER 2014

Enterprise newspaper in Virginia City, Nevada (absolutely sublime). I also found out that, not only have I forgotten much of my introductory geography, I cannot even follow the Geography Bowl rules (apologies fellow SEDAAG “Dream Team” members!) You may not receive a gift basket, and the impersonator was perhaps a one-off experience, but nonetheless, give the regional meetings a try. My experiences of the past year certainly have reinvigorated my commitment to my regional division. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the regional divisions and their annual meetings.

AAPG Website Revamped The AAPG website has a new look. The new design is intended to provide all members with a better website experience – the place for you to begin finding, talking, collaborating and contributing more to your career, the Association and the petroleum geosciences.

AAPG does a lot of things – and the website will be designed to get the information about every single one of them into the hands of our membership and the world. And beyond the crucial need for information – about the Association, membership, industry and profession – the new design will place a priority on the science of geology that inspired the forming of AAPG. Science is the star of the new website. 24

NEWS There will be a feature page specific to scientific disciplines. It will feature articles from not only the publicly available EXPLORER but also from the scientific papers presented at meetings, articles published in books and the BULLETIN, and as the discussion forums develop, the content that is being shared there. All content on the site will be categorized in such a way to cause events, training, information, and even people sort into these disciplines. Critical to your experience in using the site will be the login. Members and nonmembers alike are encouraged to register to use the site because your comments and observations within the site will shape it for the world. Look for the login button and take the time to build your profile today at: http://www.aapg.org/.

AGI Leadership Tours Salt Lake City Region Geology in Conjunction with the SME 2014 Annual Meeting Maureen Moses American Geosciences Institute AGI tries to actively engage with the annual meetings and gatherings of the member societies in the AGI Federation, and this year AGI hostedtheir first quarter Executive Committee meeting in conjunction with the Society for Mining and Metallurgy Exploration, Inc. (SME) annual meeting held in Salt Lake City, UT this past February. While there, the Utah Department of Natural Resources, led by Utah State Magnesium plant tour evaporite pools. Geologist Rick Allis graciously hosted a field trip of different types of geoscience that occurs in the Salt Lake City area. Mining and metallurgy are major industries in Salt Lake City. En route, we passed several mines including the Kennicott Smelting Plant for copper, and Morton Geospectrum WINTER 2014

Salt Plant. The tour started outside in a series of evaporative pools. There water from the Great Salt Lake is evaporated down in a series of pools. The tour continued inside through an incredible facility that refines the magnesium-laden salts with a series of chemical reactions, and applications of electromagnetic fields. Following this process, magnesium AGI President Nick Tew blocks were melted down experiencing the high electromagneti field used for their final refinement to refine magnesium and cast into ingots shipped worldwide for use in hardening aluminum – from soda cans and computers to cars and fighter jets – we learned magnesium is a critical element used in everyday society. Following the tour, Allis took the group up a tram to the peak of Snowbird, riding up alongside skiers eager to get to the peak. Unfortunately, there was no skiing for the geoscientists but from a warming hut we were able to look down on the basin and range deformation responsible for the topography of the Salt Lake City area, and the great skiing! The challenge to looking at uplifted rocks during ski season is that most of the geology was covered by snow, but it is because of the geology and geography that contributes to the Wasatch Mountains

Group picture on the tram to Snowbird. Credit: Nick Tew.

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NEWS

Wasatch Fault scarps cut through the terrace (directly above jeep) as seen from the G.K. Gilbert Geological Park

collecting such fantastic snow: from passing western storms and lake effect snow from the Great Salt Lake. We drove through the glacially carved Little Cottonwood Canyon to make our way to our last stop: G.K. Gilbert Geological Park. This park was designated for its world-class examples of Quaternary geologic features including glacially carved canyons, the prominent Wasatch Fault and terraces formed during the rise and fall of Lake Bonneville. Understanding the geometry of the Wasatch Fault helps Utah Department of Natural Resources scientists better understand the hazards it poses to the surrounding communities. We were walked through the paleoseismic research, achieved by trenching along complex traces of the Wasatch fault. This and the work of others have led scientists to estimate this fault is capable of producing earthquakes up to magnitudes of 7.0. (Virtual Tour available here: http://geology. utah.gov/surveynotes/geosights/gilbertpark.htm) AGI would like to sincerely thank Tom Tripp of US Magnesium, Rick Allis and the Utah Department of Natural Resources for generously donating their time and energy to continue enriching leaders in geoscience communities, and the members that they represent. Geospectrum WINTER 2014

NSS Announcements Dave Decker • Journal of Cave and Karst Studies will be made available electronically. • The NSS is putting together an “Education Division” that will include K-12 outreach, adult education and a Youtube channel. • CAVESIM (http://cavesim.com/) will be in Washington D.C. for the Science and Engineering Festival April 26th and 27th. • The NSS has been hosting webinars on all subjects cave related. These webinars are available for viewing on the NSS web page (http://www.caves.org/ webinars/index.shtml).

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NEWS AWG: High Topography in Continental Interiors: An Adventure in Mongolia

of Lakes and Valley of Lakes lie between the Hangay uplift and the Altai ranges.

Reprinted with permission from AWG GAEA, Spring 2013

Stephanie Souza Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA USA 2012 AWG Brunton Compass WInner Plate tectonics explains many observations about Earth, such as the global distribution of earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain belts, the relative height and age of continents and ocean basins, and the transfer of material between the surface and deeper parts of the Earth at subduction zones and rifts. Uplift and subsidence are long recognized as an important part of continental geology, however the formation of continental plateaus is not predicted by plate tectonics. I was part of a project to understand the processes responsible for developing high topography in continental interiors and to place them within the larger framework of plate tectonics. The Hangay Dome in Mongolia (Figure 1) represents a region of high topography embedded within the continental interior of Central Asia. Evidence suggests that the high-elevation, low-relief topography in the Hangay developed recently in geologic terms and that the geodynamic processes responsible for uplift are still active. Western Mongolia and adjacent parts of central Asia currently accommodate ~10 mm/yr of northward directed shortening related to the India-Asia collision. The Hangay Mountains occur in a transition between predominantly compressional deformation to the south and extensional deformation to the north. The northern margin of the Mongolian plateau and adjacent parts of the Siberian Craton are dominated by the active Baikal and Hovsgol intracontinental rifts. Situated in this complex juncture the Hangay Mountains and trans-Hovsgol ranges occupy a broad domal upland (~425,000 km2) containing the embedded Hangay Dome, (~200,000 km2) a largely intact block-uplift, flanked by major, currently active strike-slip faults. The high interior of the dome sits at elevations ~1.5 km above the regional trend and locally reaches elevations of up to 4000 m. To the southwest, the internally drained Mongolia Depression Geospectrum WINTER 2014

Figure 1. A physiographic map of western Mongolia. Thin black lines—major faults. Heavy white dashed line—present drainage divide between internally-drained rivers and rivers of the Selenga basin flowing to the Arctic. Fish symbols represent sampling locations. White arrows are GPS velocities with 95% confidence ellipses with respect to stable Europe. Short dashed white line are estimated lithospheric thickness in km. Focal mechanisms show 20th century earthquakes with M >8. (From http:// www.ees. lehigh.edu/groups/mongolia/)

The National Science Foundation is funding collaborative research focused on characterizing the physical properties and structure of the lithosphere and sublithospheric mantle, and the timing, rate, and pattern of surface uplift in the Hangay. Studies are being carried out in geomorphology, geochronology, thermochronology, paleoaltimetry, biogeography, petrology, geochemistry, and seismology. During the summer of 2012, I was fortunate to be part of this research study. I traveled to Mongolia and worked with a team to install a seismic array. The stations included broad-band earthquake monitoring equipment and two solar panels to power the equipment (Figure 2). We divided into three groups of four to cover three regions of the Hangay Dome. My team consisted of two engineers from the Mongolian 27

NEWS Research Center of Astronomy and Geophysics (RCAG), Dr. Josh Stachnik, research scientist Lehigh University, and myself (Figure 3).

Figure 2. Installing a seismic station. I am kneeling while programming the instrument.

At first it was intimidating being the youngest, least educated, and one of the only two females. The other female on the team was Dr. Anne Meltzer, Lehigh University. However, I saw it as an opportunity to demonstrate that I’m capable of doing more than what was expected of me. I quickly and eagerly learned how to complete the installation, but the deployment was only a small portion of what I achieved. My biggest accomplishment was working with people from a dissimilar culture. I expected distinctive foods and customs.

Figure 3. My team and the two keepers (furthest left and furthest right)of an installed seismic station.


However, I found that being a tourist is a completely different experience than working with those of different backgrounds. I learned that Mongolians don’t believe in planning. They work together to accomplish a task instead of dividing the work. These two cultural traits were stressful to deal with in the field. When my team leader and I were planning how many stations we could complete the following day, we asked our colleagues how long it would take to get from one site to another. The Mongolian engineers said it was bad luck in their culture to give an approximation. That was a challenge for scheduling! We were working in their country so we had to respect this aspect of their culture. As a work around we decided to complete as many stations in a day as we could even if that meant doing half of one at the end of the night and finishing it up in the morning. This worked out well and we finished with time to spare. Mongolians like to work together on even the smallest of tasks. Two additional people assisted us while installing one station. I was assembling all of the solar panels on the mount when suddenly all four Mongolians were trying to help me put the same nut and bolt together. I tried explaining that there were other tasks that had to be done and that five people were too many to be doing the same small task. I had never camped prior to this, and doing so for the first time in a country I had never visited, was definitely a worthwhile experience. I was exhausted from working from 8am to 10pm most nights, so I would fall asleep pretty quickly. Going to the bathroom was definitely an adventure as I was with a group of 3 men and there were rarely outhouses or trees. After this trip I had not only gained more of an appreciation for my home and indoor plumbing, but I conquered my apprehension of camping. This experience has opened many doors for me, and I have learned much more than I had expected. I plan to continue conducting research next semester working with the data collected from Mongolia, which I hope to turn this into a Master’s thesis. I will be attending field camp this summer through Lehigh University and plan on graduating with a combined B.S. + M.S. in Earth and Environmental Science. I want a career in which I can travel, explore and have more field experiences. I am confident my Brunton and AWG will always be with me. 28

NEWS Highlights from AGU Melanie Harrison AGU Member Society Representative • AGU announced a new open-access journal, Earth and Space Science, marking AGU’s first journal focused on the presentation and interpretation of key Earth and solar system data sets and observations, and our second new open-access journal in 12 months. • The 2013 AGU Fall Meeting achieved record attendance including 22,000 registrants, 6900 students, 2600 judged posters and travel grant support for more than 230 students. • 62 new AGU Union Fellows were elected, including 13 new female Fellows, AGU’s largest ever class of female Fellows. • Three community inspired challenges were launched as part of the Thriving Earth Exchange – which connects local communities with the technical resources and funding sources needed to address issues related to climate change, natural resources, and natural disasters. • 3rd annual Science Policy Conference – 16-18 June, 2014 – which will bringing together policymakers, scientists and thought leaders to discuss how science can and should inform critical policy decisions.

NAGT, AGU and GSA seek to improve learning and Teaching of Geoscience through Partnership

NAGT On the Cutting Edge has a long history of providing comprehensive, discipline-wide professional development programs for current and future geoscience faculty. It aims to develop a geoscience professoriate committed to high-quality instruction based on currency in scientific knowledge, good pedagogic practice, and research on learning with the ultimate goal of improving student learning. The partnership between American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, and NAGT On the Cutting Edge will help to sustain the high quality face-to-face, virtual, and travelling workshops as well as the online resources valued by so many educators. “I’m the only oceanography instructor on my campus and until this workshop never had the opportunity to engage with others about the challenges of teaching this course…receiving feedback and support will translate to a better learning environment for my students.” – workshop participant “Got activities and ideas that I can use in the classroom with minimal adaptation will allow me to improve my courses without expending significant time and energy.” – workshop participant “Wonderful network of professionals and the valuable resources that I never knew existed!” – workshop participant NAGT On the Cutting Edge, American Geophysical Union, and the Geological Society of America share many goals. Through this exciting collaborative effort, our aim is to continue to improve and strengthen geoscience education with the goal of a more educated and informed public ready to face society’s environmental challenges. For additional information about NAGT On the Cutting Edge, please contact Krista Herbstrith at 507-222-5634 or [email protected]. NAGT is located at: c/o Carleton College, W-SERC, One North College Street, Northfield, MN 55057

Krista Herbstrith The National Association of Geoscience Teachers On the Cutting Edge is pleased to announce today that the American Geophysical Union, along with the Geological Society of America, have agreed to a formative partnership to improve the learning and teaching of the geosciences. Geospectrum WINTER 2014

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NEWS SSSA: Up on the roof, a world of green By Nancy Maddox This story first appeared in the Jan.-Feb. 2014 issue of Soil Horizons, a publication of the Soil Science Society of America.

The purple lovegrass, orange trumpet vine and blackeyed Susan are no longer in bloom at this time of year. Yet one of the most prized installations of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is still receiving visitors: the rooftop garden above its headquarters in downtown Washington, DC. Green roofs, it seems, are sprouting everywhere. And not just for their good looks. The ASLA figures its experimental “urban oasis” slashes its heating bill by 10% in winter months and captures three quarters of all precipitation hitting the roof, substantially reducing runoff into DC’s antiquated sewer system. Moreover, water that does reach the sewer contains fewer pollutants than typical city rainwater, having been filtered through the rooftop vegetation.

Chicago City Hall rootop garden. Photo courtesy of Flickr/ Wickerfurniture.

Green or “living” roofs can reduce urban heat islands, reduce noise pollution, clean city air, sustain wildlife, and even extend the life of the roof. Barrett Kays, a soil scientist with Raleigh-based Landis PLLC, points out a social aspect as well: “You may have plazas built into the roof where people can congregate, you may have outdoor restaurants. You might have a garden and a vertical green wall. All of those things Geospectrum WINTER 2014

can look very nice in an urban environment, if they’re well maintained.” The benefits of vegetated rooftops are so many and so well established that DC aims to achieve 20% green roof coverage by 2020. Just last year, the DC metropolitan area added 1.3 million square feet of rooftop vegetation. DC is not alone. Both Toronto and Chicago mandate at least some green roof coverage for certain types of new development or redevelopment within the cities. New York City and Portland, OR, offer tax incentives for green roof installations (as does DC). And even midsize cities, such as Cincinnati, Nashville, and Baltimore, are growing significant green roofscapes. But life is not easy up on the roof. “You have the worst extreme conditions,” Kays says. “A lot of wind. Extreme heat events in summer, extreme cold in winter. Basically, you’re trying to grow something that will grow in a semi-arid environment and also grow in a northern, almost frigid-like environment. It’s very wet at times and very dry at times.” One plant, the water-storing sedum, is a green roof workhorse because it “can hang in a pretty wicked environment,” according to Kurt Horvath, owner of the company Intrinsic Landscaping. His company installs about 50 green roofs a year, ranging from a four-acre installation atop the FedEx sorting facility at O’Hare International Sedum on a green roof in Airport to rooftop garLancaster, PA. Photo courdens for environmentally tesy of the Chesapeake Bay Program. conscious homeowners.

Engineering Nature Yet choosing the right plant species is far from the only consideration. Sedums, cacti, thymes, and other roof-hardy perennials depend upon a carefully engineered environment to survive the harsh conditions stories above street level. While green roof plantings may recreate desert or prairie landscapes, there is little that is natural below the “ground.” A living roof installation is a multilayered assembly of materials that are contrived to 30

NEWS achieve specific results. From the rooftop up, there is a roof slab for structural support, a layer of insulation, a waterproofing/root barrier membrane, a water storage area (often resembling an egg carton), drainage material, a soil separator membrane, soil, a biodegradable covering to keep the soil from blowing away, and finally plants. Among all of these materials, it might be easy to take the soil for granted, but the type of soil used is critical for success. Bruce Dvorak, a professor of landscape architecture and urban planning at Texas A&M University, says, “The soils used on modern green roofs are engineered soils typically categorized as growth media. The soils need to perform the same as soils on the ground, but they must remain stable over time. This means that they need to resist slumping (i.e., excessive settling and compaction), erosion, and nutrient depletion.” The main components of green roof soils are sand that has been screened to achieve a fairly uniform particle size and expanded aggregates—rock or clay fragments that are heated until they expand, providing greater volume for the same weight. These are supplemented with various organic materials, such as tree bark and other hard plant parts that decompose slowly. Often, soils are custom blended to support the plant community chosen to populate a green roof garden, using local aggregate materials. In the West, Horvath says, that means pumice. In the Midwest, expanded clays or shale. And in the East, shale, slate, or clay. “One of the most important properties of green roof media,” Dvorak says, is “the distribution of particle size from sand to small gravel.” Coarse material at the bottom provides air space to store excess water below the root zone. Finer-textured soil at the top provides a favorable environment for plants to take root. “There is typically very little silt in the media because silt can clog drainages,” Dvorak explains. “Poor drainage can be as much a problem as too porous a media. If the media holds too much water, it can suffocate plants, whereas if the media does not hold enough moisture, the plants can wilt. So, the appropriate distribution of particle size helps to control these factors.” Geospectrum WINTER 2014

In fact, green roof soils are strikingly similar to the earth below the turf in high-use, outdoor public spaces. Kays helped design the soil mix used in a 24-acre outdoor events venue in New York City’s Central Park. “Up to a million people attend events there,” he says. “We designed it to be able to handle a 10-inch rainstorm three hours before a function.” By the time people arrive for the event, the rainwater has drained away, so no one walks through puddles or mud, and the turf remains intact. The vast majority of all green roofs in North America have so-called extensive rooftop gardens. The soil is no more than six inches deep and contains little organic matter. “These are fairly dry soils,” Kays says, “that drain readily and hold only limited moisture.” Although extensive gardens can sustain only plants adapted to arid environments, they require little irrigation or other maintenance, making them a popular choice. Intensive green roofs, in contrast, place a heavier load on the roof and require more human intervention, including irrigation and fertilization. The soil runs at least 12 inches deep, contains more organic matter than an extensive green roof, holds a fair amount of moisture, and can sustain a varied plant community, including shrubs or even small trees. Intensive green roofs generally use a lightweight expanded slate sand media. Even so, because of the extra weight associated with intensive roofs, they are mostly used on new construction, with the weight load factored into a building’s design.

A Green Roof of Your Own? The green roof movement began in Germany about a hundred years ago, after gravel and sand-blasted roofs became popular in Berlin to prevent the spread of fire in congested urban areas. As luck would have it, the sand and gravel held sufficient moisture to germinate windblown seeds that landed on the rooftops. These spontaneous living roofs attracted the attention of botanists and others, eventually leading to the development of the world’s first green roof guidelines, produced by the German Landscape Development and Landscaping Research Society, commonly known as the FLL guidelines. Although there are various 31

NEWS green roof guidelines used in North America, none are as comprehensive as the FLL guidelines.

As urban agriculture becomes more popular, some are using their roofs to grow food. Photo courtesy of Flickr/ramson.

Dvorak says many U.S. green roof growth media manufacturers base their soil formulations on the FLL guidelines. But he says, “Some regions of the U.S. require modifications to these guidelines to accommodate greater drainage capacity or more water retention.” What should green roof enthusiasts know before greening their own roof? Two things. First, consult the pros. Dvorak says, “Modular (off-the-shelf ) green roof systems exist, but even with these types of systems, experience is necessary.” It is best to use an installer who has at least a five-year record of success with previous projects. Second, check to see if there are local regulations governing green roof installations in your area. “Shallow green roofs can weigh 20 to 35 pounds per square foot, so structural engineers need to approve plans for construction,” Dvorak says. “Drainage plans need review and design as well, so architects may need to become involved. Landscape architects become involved with more complex projects, looking at the entire green roof system design.” Today, there are more and more of these projects adapting living roofs for any number of innovative uses. Horvath, for example, is working on several urban farm projects in the Chicago area. “I don’t know that that’s going to solve the world’s food problems,” he Geospectrum WINTER 2014

says, “but for local food production and specialty food products, I think that’s a great niche.” The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park has a green roof comprised of several 30-foot rolling hillocks covering 2.5 acres that is an attraction in its own right. Visitors can access an open-air observation terrace for a close-up view of 1.7 million self-propagating native plants—billed as “the densest concentration of native wildflowers in San Francisco”—along with the birds, butterflies, and insects that have discovered the verdant bounty of flora. And the John Deere Werke facility in Mannheim, Germany, has a rooftop wetland system designed to remove phosphates and heavy metals from the plant’s wastewater. Cleaning the environment, saving energy, supporting wildlife, and growing food—what else can a living roof do? Maybe it can even engender a little more harmony in the world. Says Horvath, “There was a guy who loved living in the city (of Chicago), and his wife wanted to move out of the city for the family they wanted to start. We built a turf yard on the roof, and everyone was happy.”

The California Academy of Sciences’ green roof. Photo courtesy of Flickr/Judy H.

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NEWS NAGT: Letter from the President: A Look Back at 2013 Susan Buhr Sullivan University of Colorado at Boulder NAGT president, 2013 When I closed the Geoscience Education Luncheon at the 2012 Geological Society of America (GSA) meeting with a bang of my new gavel, the notion of serving as NAGT president was daunting. I knew the role that NAGT has played in supporting and advocating for geoscience education since 1938 — and the critical need to maintain that work. Due to the efforts of members throughout the organization, I believe we succeeded in continuing to meet that challenge in 2013. NAGT saw a great increase in membership last year — over 300 new members — due to efforts to reach out to lapsed members and new links between NAGT and the On the Cutting Edge professional development program. We saw a great influx of student members, too; we must now ensure that they experience the value of being part of our community. GSA has become a sponsor for On the Cutting Edge, an exciting new collaboration, and the set of NAGT workshops is now being managed as a coherent program, which means program elements can work together for success and sustainability. The 2YC Division has been joined by the Teacher Education Division and the Geoscience Education Research Division. We look forward to seeing the vibrant communities that will form within them. (To join any or all of them, visit your member portal page athttps://nagt.org/members/.) The editorship of In the Trenches transitioned at the end of 2013 from founding editor David Steer to Lucinda Shellito. The Executive Committee commends Dr. Steer for his leadership in establishing In the Trenches and welcomes Dr. Shellito. Meanwhile, the Journal of Geoscience Education continues to support scholarly writing among members under the direction of editor Dr. Kristen St. John. The new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have put Earth and space science on a parity with life and physical sciences at the pre-college level. As Geospectrum WINTER 2014

a critical stakeholder, NAGT reviewed the draft versions of the NGSS and signed on in support of the final standards. Action now moves to the state level, where each state’s educational policy body will decide whether or not to adopts the standards. By reaching out to teacher organizations, state decisionmakers, and local districts, NAGT members can be a big part of what results. Look for more news and opportunities about NGSS in future communications. I am grateful to the support and friendship of my colleagues at NAGT, especially that given by the Executive Committee and Executive Director Cathy Manduca. With a new sense of appreciation for our venerable organization, I welcome Aida Awad in her term as new NAGT president.

Call for Papers: GSA Today The Geological Society of America’s science & information magazine, GSA Today, is seeking science and Groundwork articles for publication in late 2014–early 2015. Get noticed. GSA Today is open-access online (www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/) and has a circulation of ~26,000. Its science articles are among the most widely read in earth-science, and this consequently provides an unparalleled opportunity for disseminating the results of research projects to the widest possible audience. Make an impact. GSA Today is ranked eleventh in the world among geoscience journals in the latest report from SCImago Journal & Country Rank (www. scimagojr.com/journalrank.php?category=1907), which measures a journal’s influence and prestige. Hit the ground running. The turnaround time from receipt to acceptance is just 73.5 days; acceptance to publication for these articles averages 145 days. Science editors: R. Damian Nance of Ohio University and Steven J. Whitmeyer of James Madison University. Learn more: www.geosociety.org/pubs/gsatguid.htm.

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NEWS TSOP: Could the Next New Cancer Drug Come from Kentucky Coal Mines? Text credit: Allison Perry Video credit: Alicia Gregory James Hower brings us news of collaboration between the University of Kentucky’s Center for Pharmaceutical Research and Innovation (CPRI), the Kentucky Geological Society (KGS) and the Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER). The idea behind the program is to collect samples from unusual environments throughout the Commonwealth, with the goal of finding new, unique organisms that produce natural products that could potentially be used to develop new drugs with an initial focus on treatments for cancer, infectious disease and inflammation. Many of our existing effective drugs are made by microbes. For example, erythromycin — an antibiotic used to treat a range of infections — is a natural product formed by bacteria found in soil. The anticancer agent doxorubicin is also another example of a microbial-produced natural product. Through collaborations with CAER and KGS, the CPRI team has the opportunity to study products taken from Kentucky underground and surface coal mines, thermal vents from underground coal mine fires, mining reclamation sites and deep-well core drilling operations for carbon sequestration. The initial collaboration with CAER involved studying emissions, and the corresponding microbes, associated with underground coal fires. The heat of the fires combines with the varying flora and mineral makeup of each site to create a distinctive environment for sampling. “We decided that the coal fire sites were a very good starting point, because they are fairly unique,” said Jim Hower, principal research scientist for Applied Petrology in Environmental and Coal Technologies at CAER. “They’re really a prime target for sampling.” Through KGS’ core drilling operation, the CPRI team has also accessed samples from deep underground — in fact, during drilling in the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field earlier this year, more than 40 samples of drill cuttings from depths ranging from 100 feet to nearly Geospectrum WINTER 2014

one mile underground were collected and sent to CPRI’s lab. Once samples are collected, the CPRI team places the material on media plates and begins the painstaking process of purifying and growing each individual strain of bacteria. The team looks for organisms that are capable of producing novel molecules, and then isolates and characterizes the new compounds from these organisms. The compounds are housed in a repository and are made available to researchers across UK’s campus to be entered into studies. As an example, Markey Cancer Center researcher Qing-Bai She recently discovered a class of molecules from the new repository that invoke a novel anticancer mechanism, setting the stage for further anticancer lead development studies. To read more about this amazing cross-disciplinary project, follow these links: http://pharmacy.mc.uky.edu/thorson.php http://youtu.be/VglEEjMviVA

SSSA: Medical imaging helps reveal lasting impacts of soil compaction Madeline Fisher Soil Science Society of America The large, air-filled spaces, or “macropores,” in untilled soil often resemble the branching vessels of the human circulatory system. Taking advantage of this similarity, a team of Nordic researchers (www.poseidon-nordic.dk) combined computed tomography (CT) scanning with traditional measurements of air exchange to “diagnose” the long-term impacts of soil compaction on the hidden, but vital, soil pore network. Caption: 3-D images of the macropore system in 10 cm-diameter, 8 cm-high soil cores taken from a heavy clay soil in Finland. Left: Control (non-compacted) soil. Right: Soil from plots where heavy machinery drove over the ground in an experimental treatment 29 years earlier. Images obtained from x-ray, computed tomography (CT) scans by Mathieu Lamandé. 34

NEWS

Above: 3-D images of the macropore system in 10 cm-diameter, 8 cm-high soil cores taken from a heavy clay soil in Finland. Left: Control (non-compacted) soil. Right: Soil from plots where heavy machinery drove over the ground in an experimental treatment 29 years earlier. Images obtained from x-ray, computed tomography (CT) scans by Mathieu Lamandé.

In farm settings, soil can become compressed and unnaturally dense when heavy farm machinery is driven over it. But what the system of pores looks like in compacted soil hasn’t been well studied. When the Nordic scientists examined cores of compacted, heavy clay subsoil from a research site in Finland, they found the macropores were greatly affected compared with a non-compacted, control soil. In particular, the compacted soil contained mostly long, vertical “arterial” pores, or pipes, with significantly fewer “marginal” pores branching from them. The findings appeared in the Nov.-Dec. 2013 issue of the Soil Science Society of America Journal. Compaction also reduced the size of the vertical arteries, and just as in the human body, this constriction of the soil’s “circulatory” system can have ill effects. Blocked and narrowed pores likely impede the diffusion of air through bulk soil, the scientists say. The dominance of vertical pipes in the compacted soil also suggests that water flows mostly downward, with relatively little reaching the surrounding soil matrix. Both of these changes can reduce crop productivity. But most troubling to the researchers was how Geospectrum WINTER 2014

lasting the impacts of compaction appear to be. In the study, the group examined soil cores taken from a depth of 0.3 to 0.4 meters (0.9 to 1.2 feet) in plots where 30 years earlier a heavy tractor-trailer drove over the ground four times in an experimental treatment. (Only smaller farm equipment was used in subsequent years.) Despite all the elapsed time, macropores in the compacted subsoil were still highly altered compared with control soils, indicating a poor ability of this heavy clay soil to recover its original structure. What’s more, the damage was done by wheel loads (3.2 Mg per tractor rear wheel and 4.8 Mg per trailer wheel) that are considerably lower than those used in agriculture today. What this all says is that while subsoil compaction is easy to ignore because it’s hard to see, it definitely deserves more study, say the researchers. And what better to help diagnose this hidden problem than CT—a medical instrument that detects equally stealthy problems in the human body?

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NEWS CMS: THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER Thanks to the vagaries of CMS’ Annual Meeting calendar, this is (already) my last President’s Corner. The end of my (short) term brings retrospective remarks to mind, but the contents of this page draw me to the future instead. The research that our recent Student Travel Grant recipients presented at our recent Annual Meeting sampled the clay science that CMS members have advanced for the past 50 years and will for the next 50. Their research embraces geology, environmental chemistry, and crystallography. It spans basic and applied science. It is international. It is a microcosm of CMS. It bodes well for the future of clay science, and for CMS as a major meeting place for clay scientists. CMS’ second half-century is off to a most promising start! With that, I prepare to bid you farewell. I look forward to seeing you in College Station. Best wishes, Michael Velbel President, The Clay Minerals Society [email protected]

Rare opportunity to visit Ordovician-Silurian boundary sections, central Manitoba (2013 GAC field trip C5) GAC – Division Updates/ Mises à jour de la División GAC Paleontology Division

Bob Elias’s and Graham Young’s field trip to the Ordovician-Silurian (O-S) boundary in the Williston Basin of central Manitoba after the GAC Annual meeting in May (sponsored by Paleontology Division of GAC). Rapid glaciation and deglaciation of Gondwana at the end of the Ordovician produced two closely spaced phases of profound global change that influenced even the low-latitude epeiric environments of central Laurentia, and together resulted in the first of the five famed mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic. Although the boundary interval in Manitoba, recorded by the Stony Mountain, Stonewall, and Fisher Branch formations, appears to be lithostratigraphically subtle, the less immediately obvious biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic evidence, as logically laid out by Dr. Elias over a span of three days, highlights the importance of combining detailed field work with analytical methods to unravel a complex and dramatic tale of devastation and profound change. The history of sea-level change, regional paleobathymetry and sediment budget, paleoecology, and diagenetic modification, framed in the temporal context provided by conodont biostratigraphy and carbonisotope stratigraphy, extracted from a series of isolated and humble road-side exposures, was both elegant and astonishingly revealing. In addition to some great science, the participants were treated to some northern Manitoba dining and lounging experiences they won’t soon forget. Bob and Graham are profoundly thanked for staging this truly delightful excursion. Elizabeth Turner, Laurentian University On behalf of GAC Paleontology Division and Canadian Sedimentology Research Group

The GAC’s 2013 annual meeting in Winnipeg was the platform for symposium SY3 “Life and times of Phanerozoic seas (in honour of Rolf Ludvigsen)”, organised by GAC’s Paleontology Division, and special session SS13 “Williston Basin and other intracratonic basins”, organised by the Canadian Sedimentology Research Group. Collectively, thirty-four presentations emerged from Canada’s small but persistent soft-rock community. It was only right that such successful sessions should be followed by an unusual field opportunity! Fourteen Paleozoic enthusiasts were privileged to participate in Geospectrum WINTER 2014

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NEWS Two New Divisions Announced at NAGT

• A network for full-time and part-time/adjunct faculty to improve geoscience instruction for teachers and teacher education

Geoscience Education Research Division

• A vehicle for making recommendations to the NAGT Council and membership on activities of special interest and benefit to geoscience faculty, staff, administrators and students who work with K-12 teachers

The NAGT Geoscience Education Research Division is focused on serving the NAGT members with an interest in research in geoscience education and student learning. This division will focus on the following activities: • Periodic communications that share news, events and announcements related to the mission

• Curricular and pedagogic strategies that will produce successful geoscience teachers

• Organize educational sessions at GSA, AGU and other appropriate meetings

• Collaboration and support for research in geoscience teacher education

• Recruit or organize research teams that can address specific questions or respond to RFPs

• A focal point for communication and advocacy for teacher education within NAGT and other professional societies

• Develop short professional development events using online tools • Be an avenue for community feedback to the editorial staff of the Journal of Geoscience Education • Be part of the growing movement to engage Discipline-Based Education Research in the Geosciences! Learn more about opportunities for Bringing Research on Learning to the Geosciences--workshops, projects, research groups, references and more.

Please review the NAGT Geoscience Education Research Division Vision Statement (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 196kB Oct24 13) that was developed by Bruce Herbert. This is a good starting point for discussions about organization of the Division and future activities.

Teacher Education Division - Coming Soon! This NAGT division seeks to improve geoscience teaching by improving teacher content and pedagogical knowledge and by encouraging research on best teaching practices. The Teacher Education Division (TED) exists to provide: • A forum for exchanging ideas, concerns, resources and information about geoscience teacher education Geospectrum WINTER 2014

SEPM’s New Members Only Webpages Although common with many organizations SEPM has not used a “Members Only” section of its website in the past. Recently with the addition of some new membersonly benefits which need special access programming, SEPM has launched a new Members Only section. Jokingly called ‘Club Sed’ by the staff, the page has been set up to accommodate a few specific benefits. Access to Members Only requires the SEPM Member number. The first is the Geofacets SEPM Millennium Edition access, which is a subset of the Geofacets SEPM module. It includes all of the Geofacets SEPM maps and map data from the year 2000 to the present. It is only available to SEPM Members who subscribe to it, which at $15 for 2014 is a bargain. For more about Geofacets SEPM Millennium Edition click here. The second benefit is access for all SEPM members to the online Treatise of Invertebrate Paleontology. The treatise is the mainstay for all taxonomic work dealing with invertebrate fossils. SEPM is major sponsor of the Treatise and as a benefit all members can access the online version but only through the SEPM Members Only portal. For more about the Treatise click here. 37

NEWS Another new Members Only feature will be the need to access the Member Discount Code for the new SEPM Bookstore. Members will need this code to receive their member pricing when they check out. Member pricing for SEPM publications are generally 40% below list pricing. From now on there will actually be a good reason to know your SEPM member number!


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WORKFORCE AGI: Available Now – The Directory of Geoscience Departments 49th Edition Updated for 2014, The Directory of Geoscience Departments is the only comprehensive guide to geoscience organizations around the world and it is a vital resource for thousands of scientists, policymakers, publishers, students, and the general public to find various geoscience programs and connect with colleagues. The 49th Edition provides a state/country-sorted listing of nearly 2,300 university departments, museums, federal agencies, geological surveys, and research institutes. Contact information is provided as well as details on enrollments, faculty specialties and the date and source of faculty and staff ’s highest degree. The 49th Edition also includes a listing of all the U.S. and Canadian geoscience theses and dissertations accepted in 2011 that have been reported to GeoRef Information Services. The new hardcopy edition is $35 ($28 for AGI member society members) and is now available direct from AGI (http://bit.ly/1fbhBsN) or Amazon.com (http://amzn. to/1fbhCNz). ISBN: 978-0-922152-96-4.

AIPG: Indoor Geology John H. Barnes for AIPG When thinking of a career in geology, you may be picturing yourself clambering up a steep slope to get a close look at a great outcrop, measuring strikes and dips, observing structural details, and possibly taking a sample. That’s great if being outdoors and spending a lot of time on the road appeals to you, as it does to many, but what about students who are interested in geology but are not especially agile or outdoor enthusiasts, or maybe have some condition that prevents them from Geospectrum WINTER 2014

going up a slope very well, if at all? Does that mean ruling out a career in geology? Hardly. Although I am somewhat clumsy and awkward, and I have a knee that has the potential of leaving me unable to walk and stranded who-knows-where, my undergraduate advisor didn’t dis- courage my interest in geology, but he did wisely suggest that I pursue the idea of a non-field career. There are many opportunities to make a contribution that involve little, if any, fieldwork. Among them are the following: • Geoscience Librarian. This was the first suggestion that my undergraduate advisor made, although I didn’t follow it. But I have known several librarians where I work, and although none was a geologist when hired, they all quickly became de facto geologists so that they would be able to understand the staff ’s requests and help with them. Having formal training in geology would be a big plus in giving a person a head start when pursuing such a job. • Geoscience Editor. Editing technical manuscripts for publication in professional journals and government publications cannot be done well by someone who does not understand the terminology or the principles behind the work being reported on. Some organizations hire non-geologists for these positions, but they have to quickly learn a lot about geology. My employer has traditionally hired geologists to edit its publications. Having spent a few years at midcareer as a geoscience editor, I can attest to the value of understanding what you are editing. That was a mind-expanding adventure for me because it forced me to think about aspects of geology that I had not thought about since I was in school. In addition to a broad understanding of geological principles, the work also requires excellent language skills, an understanding of editorial standards, and the mas- tery of the specialized software that is used for putting the work into a presentable format for publication in print or online. An editor also must have good communication skills for dealing with authors and printing company representatives. • Cartographer. Modern GIS (geographic information systems) have made it possible for field geologists 39

WORKFORCE to do more of their own map preparation work, but specialists are still needed who have the time and patience to master all of the details of operating this very complex software. It takes a great deal of skill and patience to put the fine details on a map in a way that will make it presentable as a formal publication. Where I work, that task is done by geologists who specialize in GIS applications because, as is true regarding editors, cartographers need an understanding of what the map is intended to show to help them to do a better job and catch potential errors. • Remote Sensing Specialist. An exciting field in recent years, remote sensing is obviously how geologists who study other bodies in the solar system do their work. Much work on Earth is also being done via remote sensing, which can detect variations and patterns that are not obvious to the worker on the ground. This is another field that requires specialized training and a good understanding of physics. • Curator. Among the most specialized people in the geological sciences are the curators who maintain collections in museums and some universities and government agencies. The materials curated can be anything from microfossils to boxes of drill core. This work requires excellent organizational skills and a keen eye for spotting things that are not what they are claimed to be. An excellent curator can even tell if a sample was not collected where someone claims that it was. • Laboratory Geologist. This is where I have spent most of my career. The laboratory geologist is the person who can often (but not always) answer a common request from the field geologist. “I saw this when I was out mapping. Can you tell me what it is?” Using equipment that requires specialized training, such as an X-ray diffractometer or scanning electron microscope, it’s often possible to answer that question. In addition to a background in geology, the work requires familiarity with the equipment to be used and the principles behind how it works. Having the interest and ability to do what is necessary to keep that equipment in good operating condition is essential. Geospectrum WINTER 2014

Developing a good rapport with the manufacturer’s service technicians is beneficial toward that end. As technology changes, it’s important to keep informed on new advances and to decide how, and whether, to incorporate them in the lab. There are many other instruments and procedures besides X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy that are used in geology labs and that require specialists. For some geological projects, the laboratory is a central element, processing potentially hundreds of samples to gain a firm understanding of the mineralogy or geochemistry. In the mining industry, such work can assist in making the all-important decision as to whether a prospect is worth pursuing economically. • Teacher. This profession usually does not require a lot of field activity and, depending on the level and subject matter being taught, might not require any. Somebody teaching college-level stratigraphy should be able to take the class out to see some outcrops first-hand, but minimal field work is required for many other positions. Teaching requires a thorough knowledge of the subject being taught as well as excellent communication skills and specialized skills that do not apply to other professions, such as the ability to relate to a younger generation. To teach at the high school level, specialized training and certification are required.

These are only some of opportunities to pursue geology away from the field, and none of these career paths has to completely exclude fieldwork. Many people in these disciplines combine their predominantly non-field activities with occasional trips to collect samples or to see things first-hand. Some laboratory people manage to divide their time 50-50 between lab and field. But all are possibilities for those who have a strong interest in geology and, for whatever reason, are not interested in spending the bulk of their time in the field, or are not able to do so.

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WORKFORCE AIPG: So Now You Are One Larry A. Cerrillo, CPG-02763 It may be safe to say that not too long ago you couldn’t spell paleontologist or geophysicist or whatever your “ist” is. Now you are one and anxious to get cranking. Great! Just a few words for thought on going forward. In today’s workplace, as in the past, but especially in our more complex work environment where we have multi-cultural, multi-generational folks working side by side, you will have to learn to work with people in a positive way. Many hardworking, bright folks want to move-up as rapidly as they can. No fault with that. The surest and quickest way to do that is by demonstrating you can work with others in a harmonious manner. Demonstrate that you can do your task really well and help others in doing theirs. As a former project manager and office manager of environmental/engineering firms, I have witnessed young folks entering the work force and within a year or less expecting a management role. Admirable goal to be sure, but not practical. Build your skills, build rapport and gain trust with fellow workers. This will gain recognition with management and help on your way to more responsible positions. Another situation to prepare your- selves for is working in a different culture. Our culture values individualism, assertiveness and a time-is-money ethic. You may find yourself in an environment where the opposite is true. In many Asian cultures for example, the community and relationship values are more important. If assigned to an unfamiliar country, read and research all you can about customs and expected behaviors. Time permitting, take a course on conflict management or again research and learn about dealing with conflict. Conflict in the workplace is inevitable. Learn how best to deal with it as you enter the complex work environment of multi-cultural, multi-generational, and multi-discipline teams.


AGI Geoscience Currents #8486: Enrollment and Degrees Conferred (2012-2013) Alexandria, VA – Citing strong employment outlooks for geoscience degrees, relative to the weak economy, the American Geosciences Institute announces robust program enrolments and degrees conferred for the 2012-2013 year. The data reflected in the Geoscience Currents #84, #85 and #86, released February 2014, and are pulled from the upcoming Directory of Geoscience Departments, due out in March. Degree production remained strong, and showed increases for awarded Master’s degrees. Report author, Dr. Christopher M. Keane, attributes the increase of Master’s degrees awarded as a response to the strong job market. Specifically, “students pursuing geoscience graduate degrees to improve their employability.” This number may also include students leaving the Ph.D. track in favor of job opportunities outside of academia. Examining gender, enrollments of women in geoscience programs showed an apparent, but the decrease was not observed in the numbers of geoscience degrees conferred to women. The nature of economy and global politics are cited as potential causes for a male-to-female discrepancy between enrollments and degrees conferred including A) geoscience industry jobs appearing slightly more attractive to men, and B) an influx of U.S. military personnel from the draw-down in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most notably, the geoscience degree level with the highest percentages of degrees awarded to women is the doctorate. Notably, this trend has not been reflected in the gender distribution in faculty, but the report notes that it is potentially too early to see this trend as 65% of doctoral recipients proceed onto a post-doc position. These and other Geoscience Currents can be found at: http://bit.ly/1av6bDj

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WORKFORCE GEOSCIENCE CURRENTS

6 December 2013

No. N o. 8 82 2

Field Camp Attendance Continues to Steadily Increase

There has a steady increase in field camp attendance since 2006, increasing 92%. This can be attributed to an overall increase in field camp attendance, as well as an increase in reported field camp attendance data and locations.

Field Camp Attendance (2001-2013) 3000

2500

number of students

Attendance att U U.S. field Att d S fi ld camps reached h d 2,973 students in 2013, which was a 5% increase from 2012. Attendance was reported by 102 of the existing 124 field camps, however, not every camp is held every year and data many not be reported on a regular basis.

2000

1500

1000

500

AGI last reported on field camp attendance in 2011 and can be found in Geoscience Currents #55.

0

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

The location and relative number of field camps are represented with the shades of blue in the map, and the yellow shade denotes states with universities that offer a field camp that takes place in one of the blue-shaded states.

1-5 Field Camps 6-10 Field Camps 11-15 Field Camps 16-20 Field Camps 21-25 Field Camps 26-30 Field Camps States with Institutions that Offer Field Camp in Another State

As seen on the map, the majority of field camps offered by geoscience departments occur in the Western States, particularly in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. However, a few institutions hold field camps in eight other countries.

The U.S. Field Camp database is maintained by Dr. Penelope Morton at the University of Minnesota Duluth. To make sure your field camp is listed, or to report your field camp attendance, please contact Dr. Morton at [email protected]. Data provided by Dr. Penelope Morton Figures created by Carolyn E. Wilson

www.agiweb.org/workforce/ Geospectrum WINTER 2014

[email protected] 42

WORKFORCE GEOSCIENCE CURRENTS

27 January 2014

The Challenges of Comparing Data on Minorities in the Geosciences

No. N o. 8 83 3

Data Derived from the Department of Education’s IPEDS Database

Percentage of Degrees Awarded

Percent of Degrees Awarded

Percentage of Geoscience Bachelor's Degrees Awarded Accurate data on the enrollments and completions to Underrepresented Minorities of underrepresented minorities in geoscience degree 10% programs can be difficult to acquire. The most commonly 9% used source is data provided by the Department of 8% Education through their Integrated Postsecondary 7% Education Data System (IPEDS). The two stacked bar graphs show the percentage of undergraduate and 6% graduate degrees awarded to underrepresented minorities 5% in the geosciences. There appears to be a sharp decline in 4% these percentages in 2010, followed by an even sharper increase in the percentages for 2011 and 2012. 3% While there is an apparent increase in the 2% recruitment of minority students to the geosciences, this 1% increase is actually caused by changes in the Department 0% of Education’s definitions for the different racial groups. 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 The changes included creating a new category for Pacific African American Hispanic Native American/Alaskan Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian Islander/Native Hawaiian students and the introduction of Percentage of Geoscience Graduate Degrees multi-racial responses. However, with the new multi-racial Awarded to Underrepresented Minorities approach, individual students can be counted within 8% multiple categories or more specifically, select a given racial 7% category that they may not have been previously disposed, which can inflate the percentages. In addition, the source 6% of IPEDS data varies by institution, including from 5% departments, colleges, and offices of institutional research, which can lead to varying definitions of the degree 4% programs compared to how they would be defined by the individual departments or the students. 3% When AGI created the Geoscience Student Exit 2% Survey, collecting accurate demographic data about graduating students was considered a necessary function 1% for the survey. Because the students respond to this survey, 0% it is collecting self-identifying data, unlike IPEDS. This leads 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 to clear differences in percentages between the IPEDS data Data Collected from AGI’s Geoscience Student Exit Survey and the Exit Survey data, particularly the percentage of Graduates with a BA/BS Graduates with a MA/MS Graduates with a Doctoral Degree African American/Black geoscience graduates. With